Oscilium Head of Demeter/Persephone
name: label: Collector
content: Rev. James Curley
label: Donor Name
content: Accession Number Unknown
notes: label: Notes
content: Hole in back. '6049' engraved on back. Sticker on back 'Curley'
label: Notes
content: Oscillum. Representation of a veiled goddess, with the appearance of rising from the earth, connected it with the Persephone myth Oscillum. Representation of Demeter / Persephone. Found at Cameiros. British Museum, 176. These two goddesses ousted all other divinities from the underworld circle, and endowed with their own personality not only the feminine statuettes, but also the female masks (oscilla) which were hung on the walls of the tombs. In their origin these are derived from the Egyptian coffins, the upper part of which is moulded in the likeness of the head and shoulders of the dead. The Greeks, misled by their beardless faces, and knowing them only in rough Phenician copies, turned them into female busts, and adapted them to the representation of a veiled goddess, while in time their truncated form, which gave them the appearance of rising from the earth, connected them with the Persephone myth. (Hutton, Caroline Amy. Greek Terracotta Statuettes. The Macmillan Company, 1899, pg. 27-28, fig. 12, B. 176).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Italy, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Roman (Etruscan) (?)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 000000
label: USNM Number
content: A6049-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Figure
physicalDescription: label: Height - Object
content: 12.07 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 8 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 6.3 cm