Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosan Hellenistic Period, ca. 3rd century BCE. A fantastic mold-made terracotta votive figure depicting a goddess standing with a classic weight shift, her right leg crossed over her left, donning an elaborately draped chiton and himation with an ivy leaf wreath adorning her red, wavy coiffure, and holding her arms outward with a vessel in her left hand. Canosa, or Canosion as it was known then, was a major center of the ceramics and pottery trade when it was a Greek polis. It produced truly unique pottery, adorned by a completely different decorative technique from earlier and neighboring traditions. The clay is buff, with the painted decoration applied directly to it without the use of slip. This figure displays remaining painted red surfaces on her coiffure as well as white and pink on her chiton, and white on her wreath, face, arms, and hands. Size: 18.375" H (46.7 cm)

Female figures like this one played an interesting role in Canosan funerary practices. They were placed into Canosan tombs as replacements for large red-figure kraters from the century before, but first, mourners carried them in funerary processions and kept them present while they carried out rituals at the tomb. Virtually all of the statues known from Canosan tombs depict women; however, scholars believe that they represented goddesses or mourners, rather than the gender of the deceased, for in this society, young women played a major role as mourners. The Canosans, like other members of Classical society, believed that the spirits of the dead remained at the tomb and watched over the living. Canosan tombs were re-opened frequently to bury members of the same lineage, and so these figures were probably reused as well, maintaining the connection between the living and the dead.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#139394

Left hand reattached. Left forearm reattached. Loss to fingers of right hand. Head reattached - a few leaves of wreath possibly reattached. Body repaired from several pieces. Expected surface wear with pigment loss, though much red, white, and pink pigment remains as shown and described. Areas of mineral deposits as well. Holes likely from thermoluminescence testing in left arm. French auction house label at hemline that reads, "30 18 decembre 2010".