Etruscan terracotta votive profile head of a young man

circa 4th century BC
Height: 30.5 cm
 
Provenance: Collection of Sideo Fromboluti and Nora Speyer, USA, acquired 1960s-70s
 
This comes with a thermoluminescence test report from Oxford Authentication.
 
The moulded head depicting a young man in full profile facing right, the left side flat, the plain rounded back, in the form of a himation, with circular vent hole. Realistically rendered, the handsome subject with fine features, his eye with incised iris and dotted pupil, his unruly hair falling in long wavy locks. 
 
A half head of a similarly attractive young man is in the collection of the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm (accession number MM 1958:016b). For a selection of votive heads of a coarser workmanship from the 2nd century BC see Nigel Spivey, 'Etruscan Art' (London, 1997) p. 178, fig. 174.
 
Another, less refined example can be found at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, excavated at Veii near Rome, presented to the museum by RT Günther esq in 1896.