Boeotian Figurine: Squatting Monkey
Inv. No.: 91.007
Provenance: Boeotia
Date: 6th century BC
Height: 70mm
Diameter: 64mm
Gift of Dr Joc Tranberg.
A roughly shaped figurine of a squatting monkey. The clay that forms the triangular head is pinched at the top corners to form rudimentary ears and at the front to form a snout. Small oval pieces of clay have been added to form the eyes. The upright body is shaped from a roll of clay. Four other rolls of clay have been used for the limbs. The hind limbs, on which the animal sits, project forward while the forelimbs curve down so that the "hands" touch the "feet". The clay is light orange in colour. The figure has been repaired. It is decorated with black stripes that have fired red in many places. They are also abraded, especially on the forelimbs.
Function:
A votive or funerary offering or perhaps a toy.
Manufacture:
This piece was shaped by hand.
Decoration:
- Short, oblique black stripes decorate the head.
- Vertical stripes, partly black but mainly red, are painted on the back. Black or red stripes pass across the top of the front of the body and around the limbs. The belly is left plain.
Bibliography:
Higgins, R. A., Greek Terracottas, London, Methuen, 1967, 45-47.
Comparanda:
Chesterman, J., Classical Terracotta Figures, London, Ward Lock, 1974, Fig. 24.
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), Plate 102, 774; see also Volume 1: Text (1969), 207.
Higgins, R. A., Greek Terracottas, London, Methuen, 1967, Plate 19, B.