South Italian Figurine: Fragmentary Figurine

Inv. No.: 86.055
Provenance: South Italy (probably Sicily)
Date: first half of 5th century BC
Height: 84mm
Width: 126mm
Depth: 39mm
 
A fragment of a type of figurine, a seated woman wearing chains with pendants on her chest, that was very commonly produced in the first half of the fifth century in Sicily. The subject may be Athena Lindia. In this example, the lower part of the head, neck, shoulders and top part of the flat torso remain. Hair hangs down beside the neck and three chains with oval pendants, suspended from pins at the shoulders, adorn her chest. The top of a high-back throne is included in the surviving fragment. Usually such figures wear a peplos and a polos and the chains are pinned at each side. The hands either rest on the knees or hang beside them. This figurine is hollow with a fairly flat back. The clay is light orange in colour with surface incrustation and the remains of white.

Function:
Used for votive or funerary purposes.

Manufacture:
A fragment of a mould-made figurine.

Bibliography:
Higgins, R. A., Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, second edition, London, British Museum, Volume 1 (Text), 1969, 297-298.

Higgins, R. A., Greek Terracottas, London, Methuen, 1967, 85-87.

Comparanda:
Carratelli, G. P. (ed.), The Western Greeks, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 1996, Nos. 95, XI and 96.

Higgins, R. A., Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, second edition, London, British Museum, 1970, I (Plates), Plates 150, 1103; 151, 1099 (similar); 152, 1109 (more detailed) and 1111; see also Volume 1: Text (1969), 301-304.

Higgins, R. A., Greek Terracottas, London, Methuen, 1967, Plate 37 A.