Boeotian Figurine: Figurine of an Actor, Middle Comedy Type

Inv. No.: 81.001
Provenance: Boeotia (?)
Date: mid 4th century BC
Height: 108mm
Diameter: 44mm
 
A standing figure of an old man actor, a stereotypical figure of Middle Comedy. His hands are on his hips, and his weight is carried on his right leg while his left leg steps slightly forward. His face is a variant of the old man mask type GA with a wide mouth, snub nose and curved brows. He wears the usual costume of a slave: an exomis (a tunic that covers only one shoulder), tights and a padded stomach plus phallus. The more unusual feature is the polos on his head; this head-dress is usually worn by priests or goddesses suggesting that he is parodying such a figure. There is a narrow rectangular base, slightly concave on its lower surface and chipped at the rear. The clay is brown with traces of white, pink and black.

Function:
A souvenir of the Middle Period comic theatre; such figures were also used for funerary purposes.

Manufacture:
A solid mould-made figurine.

Bibliography:
Bieber, M., The History of the Greek and Roman Theater, second edition, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1961. , Charles Ede Catalogue, January (1981), No. 7.

Greek and Roman Terracotta Sculpture

Green, J. R., Theatre in Ancient Greek Society, London and New York, Routledge, 1994.

Trendall, A. D. and T. B. L. Webster, Illustrations of Greek Drama, London, Phaidon, 1971.

Webster, T. B. L., Greek Theatre Production, second edition, London, Methuen, 1970.

Comparanda:
Bieber, M., The History of the Greek and Roman Theater, second edition, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1961, Fig. 177 (old man dressed in polos, chiton and himation).

Green, J. R., Antiquities: A description of the Classics Department Museum in The Australian National University, Canberra, Canberra, The Australian National University, 1981, Inv. No. 75.19, p. 84.

Webster, T. B. L., Monuments Illustrating Old and Middle Comedy, second edition, University of London, Institute of Classical Studies (Bulletin Supplement No. 23), 1969, Plate IV, f (head with polos; mask type GA).

Webster, T. B. L. and J. R. Green, Monuments Illustrating Old and Middle Comedy, third edition, University of London, Institute of Classical Studies (Bulletin Supplement No. 39), 1978, 17 (illustration of GA mask type [old man]).