Greece, Boeatian, ca. 6th century BCE. This is a buff terracotta votive offering of a female, mold made, depicting what may be the goddess Demeter or Persephone with a fine smiling mouth, chin, relief nose, and her hair in a diadem headdress. She holds a small animal to her bust, which was often a custom to gain good favor and pay tribute. The protome is a type of bust made by pressing a thin layer of terracotta into a single mold. Originally, this piece would have been painted (to see an example of a painted protome, look up the Terracotta protome of Dionysos at the British Museum); something like this could have been bought from stalls as one walked into a temple to give an offering. Size: 3.5" W x 5" H (8.9 cm x 12.7 cm)

Provenance: This has been in the West German collection of K.B. since the 1960s.

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#113129

Repaird, but very well done and difficult to see. This is a fragment of the bust, missing the bottom part, but the facial features and clothing decorations that remain are all extremely clear.