Details

LOT 0042

Massive Archaic Greek Terracotta Statuette of a Seated Goddess Demeter

LATE 6TH CENTURY B.C.

22 3/4 in. (2.02 kg, 57.7 cm).

Seated on a high-backed throne, wearing a polos headdress with two long braids falling from underneath the headdress, wearing a long chiton fastened by a belt, the left arm raised, possibly once holding a dove; well marked facial features, slightly almond-shaped large symmetrical eyes with slightly raised eyelids, straight nose, strongly pronounced mouth with fleshy lips and shallow ears; traces of brown slip, repaired.

Provenance

with H.A.C., Basel, prior 1999.

Accompanied by a thermoluminescence analysis report no.N125a51 from Oxford Authentication.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12461-228712.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Biers, W.R., The Archaeology of Greece. An Introduction, Ithaca-London, 1987, fig.8.63, p.236, for a similar statuette; see a similar terracotta of seated Demeter at the Brooklyn Museum, accession no.34.689; other similar terracottas at the British Museum, London, accession nos. GR 1863, 0728, 273, 274, 266, 268 and 269.

Footnotes

One of the most typical 6th century B.C. terracotta female figurines was that of a standing or seated woman wearing a chiton and a himation over it. It was a votive figure offered at the shrines or temples, usually representing the goddess Demeter. Attica was one of the principal centres of figurine production, but Corinth continued to produce solid standing or seated females with moulded fronts and flat backs. The mass production of such terracotta was also typical of Magna Graecia.