Description

Boeotia, Greece, 5th- 4th Century BCE. The woman, perhaps the goddess Demeter, has a rounded ovoid face with a triangular forehead, almond-shaped lidded eyes, an aquiline nose, slightly smiling lips, and rounded cheeks and chin. She has hair that spreads out in long locks over her ears, and wears a stephane or polos on her head. The curved outline of the piece may indicate that she wears a himation pulled up on top of her head as a veil. This type of bust was made by pressing a thin layer of terracotta into a mold. The earliest known examples were made in the sixth century BCE in the Greek East, especially on the island of Rhodes, but from the early fifth century BCE onwards they were also made at Tanagra and elsewhere in mainland Greece. The popularity of this coiffure and headgear in Tanagra indicate that this piece probably came from there, or from elsewhere in Boeotia. Cf. a fierce in the Archaeological Institute, Leipzig, inv. No. T 1880, published in Eberhand Pual, Antike Welt in Ton (Leipzig, n.d.), cat. No. 32, p. 66; R.A. Higgins, Greek Terracottas (London, 1967), fig. 17, p. 64 and color pl. C, p. 79. 11”H (28 cm).

Provenance: Ex-prominent New York City Gallery

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Condition

Repaired from several pieces, but appears near-choice