Sculpture of Female with Egyptianizing Headdress

Statuette of a female wearing an Egyptian-style headdress. The woman body is posed frontally but her head turns dramatically to the left. Both arms are stretched out in the same plane as the torso . Both hands probably held attributes, now lost. She wears a sleeveless garment that reaches her calf. From the side the garment appears like a chiton but at the front and back the bodice has textured wavy lines, like ripples of a sheer fabric. The upper torso drapery is with diagonal folds, a vertical swag hangs from the left shoulder in a strong zig zag pattern. The skirt also has vertical folds which project dramatically forward and down. She wears a headress with a peak at the back of the crown and the hair falls in a ponytail onto the back. There are two rows of corkscrew curls at the back and sides. The statue is of a peculiar type and there are only a few parallels. It was sold to Blundell as a Bacchante and then it was reinterpreted as Venus Victrix looking at a small Nike in her left hand. Purchased from the Villa Mattei Collection by Henry Blundell on his first trip to Italy in 1777.