A rare Mycenaean terracotta Kourotrophos
Circa 1400-1200 B.C.
Depicting a mother of Psi form with upraised arms, the infant holds onto its mother, its legs curled under her right breast, the decoration in added umber and red in linear stripes, with shorter strokes on the concave-topped polos headdress, with a long applied plait at the back, and pinched-in bird-like facial features, 10cm high
Footnotes:
Provenance:
Private collection, London, acquired in the 1960s; by descent to the present owner.

Such depictions of mother and child are extremely rare. There is a complete Kourotrophos (Psi figure with child), in the Ortiz Collection, see Royal Academy of Arts, London, 20 January-6 April 1994, In Pursuit of the Absolute Art of the Ancient World from the George Ortiz Collection, no.63, also published in Odyssey of an Art Collector. Unity and Diversity. Five Thousand Years of Art (New Orleans, 1966-67), no.8, p.8 illus; see also a fragmentary bust with baby in the British Museum, no. 1944,1116.1; and another complete Mycenaean female figurine, Kourotrophos, from Aspochroma, 1350-1300 BC. in the Archaeological Museum of Mycenae, MM 762.

In general these figures are thought to represent goddesses, while the Phi type represents a nurse. The Kourotrophos, 'Child-nurturer' type figure, such as this example, are considered to be protective of the young.

The figure appears to be intact.

A stable horizontal hairline crack at the waist measuring approx. 5mm across. A shallow chip to the back of the figure's proper right arm measuring approx. 9x7mm. The painted decoration ranging from umber to red.

With overall surface wear including pitting, chipping, and scratching and with light brown encrustation in patches.