Roundel with Comic Mask

about 300 B.C.

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

2.1 × 7 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-228819

A mask of the sort worn by an actor in a comic play decorates this bronze roundel. Shown in three-quarter view against a plain background, the high relief, repoussé mask has straight hair brushed back from a receding hairline, a thick moustache and a small, pointed beard. The raised eyebrows cause the forehead to crease, and the eyes, framed by crow's feet, roll to the side. The full lips appear to be natural rather than the artificial mouthpiece of a mask. These features suggest that this image represents the type of mask worn by an actor playing an enslaved person. Such characters often had leading roles in ancient theatre.  The form of the mask and the expression of impish guile are very similar to masks decorating pottery made in the Greek colonies in South Italy, especially in Apulia. On the back of the roundel, two bronze bands attached with rivets would have held a thick, narrow strap running vertically. This arrangement of attachment points suggests that the roundel was probably a bridle ornament.