Grotesque Bronze Mask of a Comedian

Culture: Roman

Period: 1st century A.D.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 5.5 cm high

Price: 4 000 Euro

Ref: 3752

Provenance: From a Swiss private collection, acquired on 20 June 2010 in France. Thence in the family estate. Accompanied by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: Intact with a wonderful cuprite patina.

Description: Very expressive and in detail worked out, solid bronze theatre mask with grotesque features of a comedian. The deeply pierced eyes were once with inlays. The hair, which cascades in corkscrew curls, is held together with a floral filet. The type of the mask, with rolled back hair, flared nostrils and a grimaceous mouth wide open with a moustache over a shovel-shaped beard, was characteristic for the role of the leading slave in the New Comedy. The slave and his trickery were a popular theatre role for the Romans. A typical reversal of the social hierarchy, which happened on stage between the slave and his master, occurred when love or lust took the master’s mind and money away and forced him to ask for help from his resourceful slave. Their dramatic performances could be vulgar and offensive, yet they remained extremely popular with ordinary citizens. The present piece, probably once a decorative element of a furniture or a jug, reflects the popularity and importance of theatres for the Romans also in daily live. See for the type Christie’s auction London on 16 December 2020, lot 46. A thymiaterion in the form of a comedian see object number 87.AC.143.1 in the J. Paul-Getty-Museum, Malibu, USA. Mounted.