T I-5 Enthroned Woman
|
|
Enthroned Woman, Inv. T I-5 Provenance: Acquired by Bruno Sauer, from the Margaritis Collection. State of preservation: Intact. Front from the mould, back smoothed, concave. Plinth closed. Yellow-brown (7.5 YR 7/6) clay. No traces of painting. Remains of light engobe on the right side. Heavily sintered. Dimensions: H: 11,3 cm; W: 4,2 cm; D: 4,5 cm. |
Description: A female figure sits on a narrow armchair, the back of which cannot be seen from the front. The side view shows that the woman is leaning far back; her back and the back of the armchair hardly stand out from each other. Over her long chiton she wears a cloak which covers her head, the low tiara and the shoes and falls symmetrically over her back. The feet stand on a flat pedestal. The hands rest on the knees. The elongated face is defined by the large nose and the strong chin. The eyes are slightly bulging.
Commentary: Characteristic of this type of enthroned woman are the small diadem and the delicate chair in which the figure seems to be literally 'fitted'. The peculiar reclining posture connects T I-5 with examples in Brauron and Morgantina[1]; the latter may be an Ionian import[2]. The predecessors of the type, figurative vessels with similar motifs, are also Ionic creations[3]. The type to which the Giessen example belongs was consecrated in Attic sanctuaries[4], but spread mainly in Greater Greece. This is also where the yellow-brown clay points to. The long, motionless, angular cheeks that curve backwards and the heavy lower face of T I-5 suggest that it was made in the period of the Severe Style.
Determination: 480 BC; Ionic type, from Greater Greece?
|
|
|
|---|
[1] V. Mitsopoulos Leon, Brauron. Die Tonstatuetten aus dem Heiligtum der Artemis (Athen 2009) 175 no. 469 fig. 3 pl. 67; M. Bell, Morgantina Studies. The Terracottas (Princeton 1981) 124 f. Nno. 10 pl. 5.
[2] Cf. C. Blinkenberg, Lindos. Les petits objets (Berlin 1931) 516 no. 2129 pl. 96; A. Lauminier, Délos 23, Les figurines de terre cuite (Paris 1956) 69 no. 74 pl. 6; B. Pharmakowsky, Russland, AA 1914, 228 f. fig. 42; S. Mollard-Besques, Cat. raisonné des figurines et reliefs grecs, étrusques et romains I (Paris 1954) 76 B 534 pl. 49; E. Paul, Antike Welt in Ton (Leipzig 1959) 71 no. 74 pl. 22.
[3] M. I. Maximova, Les Vases plastiques dans l'Antiquité (Paris 1927) 68 pl. 17; R. A. Higgins, Cat. of the Terracottas in the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities British Museum (London 1954) 49 f. bo. 63 pl.
[4] s. note 1.