SculptureGreek5th century BCE

Seated Statuette of a Goddess

c. 500-470 BCE

Description

This seated female figure on throne is mold made from two pieces with a smooth back and molded front. A triangular fragment is missing from the bottom of the back, otherwise the object is intact. Made of light tan clay covered almost completely with a darker brown surface. The female figure sits in rigid frontally on a throne with her feet on a projecting foot stool. No arms are visible. Her long straight garment extends from her shoulders to her ankles. It is fastened at the shoulders by a disc shaped appliqués, a necklace with three oval objects hangs from beneath these buttons. Below this, in her lap, is a crescent-shaped object in relief flanked by two bean-shaped objects also n relief. The edges of her garment are outlined by a sharp groove and the outer edges of her garment are similarly set off from the throne. The back of the throne projects on either side and then descends to an expanded flattened area on which the figure sits. The edge of the statuette curves inward towards the base. The figure's small mold-made head features a high roll-like coiffeur with heavy locks descending to the shoulders from behind the ears. The head is surmounted by a tall cylindrical polis with flat top. From Magna Graecia.

Classification

Sculpture

Medium

Terracotta, mold made

Culture

Greek

Period

Archaic period, Late, to Early Classical

Century

5th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

17.5 x 10.5 cm (6 7/8 x 4 1/8 in.) 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Ex collection Professor Mason Hammond, Pope Professor of Latin Language and Literature, Departments of the Classics and of History, Harvard University