Bird-Faced "Pappas"

Plank figures of this type, with pinched bird-like faces and high “polos” crowns, are strongly abstract in style but securely dated to the Archaic period (6th century BCE) by excavated examples in Boeotia. Painted details indicate the eyes, the long wavy hair, and the decoration of the long garments worn by the figures, which all appear to be female. These figures also typically wear pomegranate pendants around their necks, and the pomegranate is strongly linked to death and rebirth by their association with story of Persephone in the underworld. The figures usually have a modeled spiral that emerges from the brow as part of the crown; the meaning behind the spiral and the very stylized facial features is not known. It is also uncertain whether these figures represent mortal women or goddesses.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Frederick G. Stern, Maryland, by 1984, [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1985, by gift.