Greek Tanagra Terracotta Woman, ex-La Reine Margot

Ancient Greece, Tanagra, Hellenistic Period, ca. 3rd to 1st century BCE. A hollow-molded terracotta figure of a dignified female standing with her left leg extended seductively in front of her. The stately woman presents with a gently rounded abdomen and perky breasts, a tapered neckline that emphasizes her clavicle and upper chest, and a lengthy himation with rippling waves and folds forms as she holds the excess in front of her right leg as well as behind her left hip. Her tilted head bears a melancholy countenance with heavy-lidded eyes and pouty lips, and her centrally parted coiffure flares out from beneath a simple cap. Thick layers of white pigment are visible across the entire figure with traces of red behind the head allude to just how attractive this figure would have been when created. Size: 3.5" W x 8.375" H (8.9 cm x 21.3 cm)

During the Hellenistic Period, Greeks had access to knowledge about the past through institutions like the Library of Alexandria, creating a sense of history and connection to the Greeks who had come before them. Prominent Hellenistic art collectors commissioned pieces based on public statues from the earlier Classical Period, and smaller, more available art forms like this sculpture echoed the naturalistic, detailed classical style. Terracotta figures like this one have been found in private dwellings where they may have been part of a shrine or had a religious purpose. Others decorate tombs and sanctuaries - in Tanagra, the site that this style of figure is named for, some graves have up to a dozen of these statuettes. Perhaps they represented mourners, dressed in finery to attend a funeral.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-La Reine Margot, Paris, France, acquired in the 1990s; ex-private French collection, acquired in the 1980s

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#152858 Dimensions: Condition Report: Professionally repaired from multiple pieces, with resurfacing and overpainting along break lines. Abrasions and nicks to limbs, body, and head, with fading and chipping to original white and red pigmentation, softening to some finer details, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits and wonderful traces of original pigment throughout.