Acquisition number: 1966.42
Other images
Intact but the surface is worn. Smooth, soft, orange-buff clay with very fine dark and white inclusions and some fine mica. The woman is wearing a chiton which can be seen round her ankles; it finishes in a v below her neck. Over it she wears a himation, a cloak, which is drawn over her head and round her arms. The right arm rests in the drapery with hand to waist in front of the body. The left hand holds the himation at the knee. Her hair is drawn back in regular waves from the face and it comes down at the sides to cover the ears; it is done up in a knot on top of her head. Some traces of white slip are preserved, but there is no colour except for some possible red by her right hand.
Only the front of the figurine has been formed in a mould; the legs are left open behind, to fit the seat better, but her back has been roughly modelled by hand. The centre of the piece is left hollow.
Title: Figurine of a Seated Female - 1966.42
Acquisition number: 1966.42
Culture or period: Greek Classical.
Date: Mid 4th century BC.
Material: Clay - Terracotta
Object type: Sculpture and figurines
Dimensions: 120mm (h)
Origin region or location: Italy
Origin city: Taranto/Tarentum.
Display case or on loan: 4
Keywords: Greek, Classical, Figurine, Mould Made, Gela, Woite Collection, Sicily
J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 85.
1966.42
Figurine of a Seated Female
From the Woite Collection; probably from the area of Gela, Sicily. Ht ca 12cm.
Intact but the surface is worn. Smooth, soft, orange-buff clay with very fine dark and white inclusions and some fine mica. The woman is wearing a chiton which can be seen round her ankles; it finishes in a v below her neck. Over it she wears a himation, a cloak, which is drawn over her head and round her arms. The right arm rests in the drapery with hand to waist in front of the body. The left hand holds the himation at the knee. Her hair is drawn back in regular waves from the face and it comes down at the sides to cover the ears; it is done up in a knot on top of her head. Some traces of white slip are preserved, but there is no colour except for some possible red by her right hand.
Only the front of the figurine has been formed in a mould; the legs are left open behind, to fit the seat better, but her back has been roughly modelled by hand. The centre of the piece is left hollow.
The mould from which the figurine was taken was very worn and the illustration emphasises such relief as remains. The coroplast had at some time thought that the left hand, which originally came down to the knee, should come across to join the right on her lap and so modified the mould rather crudely.
The figurine appears to be of a type created in Taranto towards the middle of the fourth century BC: compare R.A. Higgins, Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, i (London 1954), pll. 186-187 and especially pl. 187, no. 1342 which has much the same hairstyle. See also S. Mollard-Besques, Catalogue raisonné I C 581-3. This particular example should be somewhat later, perhaps from the second half of the fourth century or the earlier part of the third.
For figurines of this general type used as votives in sanctuaries, see J.D. Baumbach, The Significance of Votive Offerings in Selected Hera Sanctuaries in the Peloponnese, Ionia, and Western Greece (BAR International Series, 1249, Oxford 2004) passim.
See 1966.01-1966.42 in this catalogue for all material from the Woite Collection in the ANU collection.
J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 85.