Bidspirit auction | Cypriot Limestone Head of a

Cypriot Limestone Head of a Deer - Iron Age, circa late 6th-early 5th century B.C. Carved in the round with stub antlers to the brow; mounted on a custom-made display stand. Cf. Karageorghis, V., Cipro, Crocevia del Mondo Mediterraneo orientale 1600-500 a.C., Milano, 2002, fig.405, for a bull in similar style; cf. nearly identical head of a deer of the same period in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.74.57.25. 982 grams total, 19.7 cm including stand (7 3/4 in.). Acquired before 1947.Ex Wood family collection, UK; thence by descent 1970. The deer head probably came from a larger votive terracotta sculpture, which depicted a standing doe, perhaps being led to be sacrificed. The presence of the deer could connect the original terracotta to a sanctuary of Diana, whose sacred animal was the deer.