SculptureGreek6th-5th century BCE

Votive Figurine of a Woman

600-480 BCE

Description

Flat lead figurine of a woman in a long skirt facing left, with frontally shown chest. The breasts are rendered by two raised dots, a horizontal line indicates the belt, and the skirt is decorated with vertical bands containing a wavy or zigzag line (at right/back) and a rectangular pattern. One foot is missing and the face is bird-like in its current condition. The arms hang by the sides of the body, with the right slightly bent so that it tucks under the skirt. Similar figurines show that the woman may have worn a headgear and held a wreath. The plain back of the figurine suggests that it was cast in a one-sided mold. A horizontal crack runs just underneath the breast.

Classification

Sculpture

Technique

Cast

Medium

Lead

Culture

Greek

Period

Archaic period

Century

6th-5th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

4.4 x 1.8 cm (1 3/4 x 11/16 in.)

Provenance

Humfry Payne Collection (?-1936), England. [Galerie Gunter Puhze, Freiburg, Germany, 2001], sold; to The Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University (2001-2012), transfer; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012.