Greece, Tanagra, Boeotia, ca. 4th century BCE. An evocative example of this famous ceramic type, this sculpture depicts a standing woman draped in a heavy himation over a chiton that wraps sensuously around her slender body and falls to the floor, covering all but the tips of her feet at the bottom, while a single breast and shoulder are exposed on her upper body. The chiton has a generous hemline that billows and pools at the bottom of the skirt. The woman has her hair in a tight bun at the back of her head, with a distinctive crown-like headdress that seems composed of applied, leaf-shaped items. Her face is depicted gazing downward, her neck tilted slightly. Excellent pigment remains, giving us an idea of the original coloring of the figure - red at her lips, a dusky pink on her himation, deep red on her hair, and white on her face and much of her clothing. Size: 2.95" W x 7.95" H (7.5 cm x 20.2 cm)

Terracotta figures like this one have been found in private dwellings where they may have been part of a shrine or had a religious purpose. Others decorate tombs and sanctuaries. In Tanagra, the site that this style of figure is named for, some of the over 10,000 graves found there have up to a dozen of these statuettes. Perhaps they represented mourners, dressed in finery to attend a funeral.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#140429

Repaired at neck and center of body. Repairs are very well done and difficult to see. Small areas of overpainting around neck repair. Very nice remaining pigment.