18. Pendant: Female Head Condition The pendant is intact, but the nose is broken off. The surface is in poor condition and flaking, there are small losses over the entire piece, and it has a network of cracking. The surface is slightly glossy, suggesting an applied consolidant coating. The entire surface of the pendant is covered in a weathered yellow-ocher crust. In ambient light, the amber is yellowish brown and opaque; in transmitted light, it is dark red and clear. There are no visible inclusions. Description The contortion of the form and the asymmetry of the headdress suggest that the original amber blank influenced the form of the head. The pendant represents the frontal head and a small section of the neck of a female. The reverse is flat and plain, the obverse much more rounded and figured. Although the piece is worn and looks almost inorganic, the anatomy of the narrow face is modeled, including the eyeballs. The transitions from plane to plane are smooth. The brow is high and smooth, with the edge of the hair set well back. Above the eyes, the brow ridge swells slightly. The large, almond- shaped eyes meet at the root of the nose and tilt up sharply, the outer canthi higher than the inner, and both the upper and lower lid lines curve. The eyelids are unusual, flat and circumscribed by even, filletlike raised Accession 83.AO.202.4 lines. The upper parts of the ears are not discernible. Number Where the lobe of the ear would be is a small rounded Culture Italic area: is it the lobe or an earring? The mouth is small and curves upward. The lips are separated by a groove. The Date 425–400 B.C. lower lip is wider than the upper one. The sulcus is Dimensions Height: 40 mm; width: 23 mm; depth: 16 mm; curved, leading to the sharply pointed chin. The under- Diameter of suspension hole: 2 mm; Weight: 4 g chin area is flat and angles backward to the jaw. The juncture of the head and neck is indicated by a groove. Subjects Etruscan culture More of the neck vestige is visible on the left side. Framing the face at the brow are scalloplike waves, the Provenance individual strands indicated with curving parallel lines. Above the hair is a headdress that is wider than the brow –1983, Antike Kunst Palladion (Basel, Switzerland); 1983, and ends in a soft point. At its base is a slightly rounded, Vasek Polak, 1914–97 (Hermosa Beach, CA), donated to the raised area bordered by two parallel engraved lines, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1983. which probably represent either the turnup of a felt(?) hat or the bottom of the hat and the edge of the veil. 181