Head of a female donor or genius

It is the head of a figure that is difficult to identify, perhaps a donor or a genie, wearing a headband with a large central decoration showing an elaborate pearl or even a flower. The hair is treated in short, loose strands on either side of a median parting on the forehead, combed backwards on th sides, covering the ears. The widely deformed lobes must have been provided with curls. The round, full face is animated by an expression of amazement: open eyes, dilated nostrils, half-open mouth.

Acquired through a fund established by Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane for the purchase of Asian art in memory of Benjamin Rowland Jr. this work is housed at the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

https://hvrd.art/o/202060

The expression of this figure can be compared with that of figures HADB 166, HADB 341 and HADB 365.