ITALIAN SCHOOL, ca. 1800

Head of a Young African Man

Polychrome terracotta
9 x 8 ⅝ inches (23 x 22 cm)

Provenance:

Private Collection, Spain.

This intriguing and enigmatic sculpture depicts the head of a young African man emerging from a circular opening or window. He is seen in three-quarter profile, his eyes partially closed, but with a resolute expression punctuated by his surging hair. He seems neither an allegorical figure, nor an ethnographic type. Were it not for the highly unusual format, the specificity of his features would suggest that he is the subject of a portrait. The function of the work remains a mystery. Its scale, material, and degree of finish suggest that it was a model for a larger work—whether an architectural ornament, an element of a multi-figure composition, a funerary or commemorative monument, or some grand sculptural project.  

As an individual head seen in isolation it seems to evoke a range of associations—resignation, resistance, solitude. And the visual ties to images of the head of Saint John the Baptist on a salver, whether or not intended by the artist, gives additional resonance to the piece. The octagonal surround as well as the inner frame are integral with the head, and as the work does not correspond to any familiar class of object—whether artistic, decorative, or utilitarian—it seems likely that our sculpture could have been retained in the studio of the unknown artist who modeled it. On the basis of its high quality and style, we have suggested that it is Italian of the late 18th or early 19th century, but as with its purpose, its origin and date remain to be discovered, although its beauty can be appreciated despite the lack of art-historical context.