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Faience head of Medusa: E.GA.5989.1943

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Current Location: Gallery 19

Titles

Faience head of Medusa

Entities

Categories

Description

Plaque, with face of gorgon, baring her fangs. Medusa was a figure of Greek mythology who could turn men to stone. Her face is usually shown as frontal and she was believed to ward off evil. She often appears in funerary contexts, particularly on the attachments that decorated coffins.

Measurements and weight

Depth: 0.7 cm
Length: 4.2 cm
Width: 4 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1943) by Gayer-Anderson, R. G. (Major)

Dating

1st Century, Late
50 - 100

Materials used in production

Faïence

Techniques used in production

Moulded

Identification numbers

Accession number: E.GA.5989.1943
Primary reference Number: 59604
Oldadmincategory: FG

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 15 October 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Antiquities

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Faience head of Medusa" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/59604 Accessed: 2025-12-05 22:47:21

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/59604 |title=Faience head of Medusa |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 22:47:21|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-59604

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Faience head of Medusa</figcaption>
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