Terracotta mask of a courtesan from comedy

Moulded Nile silt and coated with a slip; left side missing and minor chipping elsewhere
Made in Egypt, Hellenistic, ca 2nd century BC
Height 10.7cm Width 7.6cm
Nicholson Museum 64.388

The mask is an attachment from a larger object, almost certainly from a convex-sided brazier or barbeque. There is some relief ground adhering at the top from its attachment to the wall of the vessel. The pupils of the eyes are bored, and the hollow mouth is open; the hair is wavy and parted in the middle; the face is somewhat chubby, with a snub nose.

Masks attached to braziers were a popular and widespread phenomenon, probably introduced during the 2nd century BC. Recorded findspots for braziers of this particular type range from Crete, Rome, Naples, Bari, Taranto, to Athens, Corinth, Benghazi, Carthage and Egypt. In many cases the clay indicates a local product, but the masks always remain close to the general, inter-regional pattern. In this respect they argue not only for the unity of the Greek world in this period, but also for the unity of its theatre practice.

Most braziers of this kind were decorated with slave-masks, but a smaller number have masks of hetairai or courtesans. Ours has close parallels in Rome (an example found in the Tiber) and in Benghazi. There are four somewhat less close examples in Carthage and yet others from Cyprus. For references to them, see the last-mentioned item below.