Archaic Bronze Statuette of a Siren

Culture: Greek

Period: around 500 B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 5.8 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 2483

Provenance: From the private estate of the renowned Parisian art dealer François Antonovich (born 1934), acquired in the 1970s.

Condition: The bottom pierced for suspension, otherwise intact.

Description: Solid bronze statuette of a seated Siren. The mixed creature of a human and a bird with laid-back wings, long tail and large talons which cling to a rock. The face human-like with archaic features with almond-shaped eyes and the typical smile. The Siren wears large round earrings and has her hair styled in broad strands into her forehead. The figure once possibly decorated a lid of a vase and served as a handle. See for the type the bronze statuette of a Siren in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with the Accession Number 1996.42. Sirens are in the Greek mythology the beguiling mixed creatures of human and bird who entice with their songs fishermen in order to kill them. From southern Italy. Mounted.