Woman with flower and coat
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Woman with flower and coat, Inv. T I-37 Front side from the mould, back side not finished, smoothed. Hollow. Kilning hole on the bottom of the plinth. Provenance: Acquired by Bruno Sauer, from the Margaritis Collection. State of preservation: Assembled from three fragments; complete. Light brown clay (10YR 6/4-6/5). White engobe. Light blue painting on the cloak on the left side of the figure. Red in the hair and on the feet, especially between the toes. Two red horizontal stripes on the front of the plinth. Yellow on the tiara. Dimensions: H: 24,1 cm; W of the plinth 5.6 cm; at the height of the arms 6.9 cm; D of the plinth 6.8 cm; at the height of the knees 4.6 cm. References: E. Neuffer, Griechische Terrakotten, Heimat im Bild. Beilage zum Gießener Anzeiger 17, 1930, 66 f. fig. 2; W. Zschietzschmann, Die Antikensammlungen der Universität. Gießener Hochschulblätter 5, 1957, 2 fig. 4. |
Description: On an almost square plinth stands a female figure leaning slightly towards her left side. The right non-supporting leg stands a little further forward with the knee bent. The slender feet with the carefully indicated toes are obviously unclothed. There is no evidence of straps indicating sandals. The woman wears a floor-length chiton of fine thin fabric that falls between the legs and down the sides in narrow vertical folds. Half-length sleeves reach to the elbow. A wide sleeve loop can be seen on the right. A narrow coat laid in dense folds is looped in front in an arc around the waist region and the bent left arm and falls from the left shoulder in vertical folds. The right arm is more bent. Presumably the upturned fingers held a painted flower. The hair is adorned with a dainty tiara and frames the forehead and temples as a thick unparted bead. The elongated face shows a heavy chin; horizontally cut lips form the wide mouth. The slightly bulging eyes are arched at the top and horizontal at the bottom.
Commentary: The statuette represents a type common above all in Attica, Boeotia and Rhodes[1], which has spread far and wide throughout the Mediterranean regions[2]. The peculiar mantle drapery is not limited to standing female robed figures; occasionally it also appears on a woman enthroned[3] and even on a standing youth[4].
The characteristics of the Giessen example include the protruding right leg, the small diadem and the hair coiffed upwards and undivided above the forehead. A close parallel, said to come from Rhodes, is found in Leipzig[5]. The striking inclination to the side is also shown by a statuette from the necropolis of Kamiros[6], which is also adorned with a narrow diadem; however, this differs from the comparative pieces in Giessen and Leipzig in that the hairstyle is drawn in over the forehead and temples. A variant with the left leg[7] in front is distinguished by greater deviations in hairstyle and headdress[8].
The attempt to postulate the origin of the statuettes in different landscapes according to the stance motif - for specimens with a non-supporting right leg the origin on Rhodes, for those with a non-supporting left leg a Boeotian workshop was assumed[9] - did not lead any further, as specimens with a non-supporting right leg were also found in Boeotia[10]. For the production of Olynth and Great Greece, the leg position was apparently arbitrary[11].
The light brown clay colour of T I-37 could point to Boeotia, but does not exclude other workshops[12]. The stance motif, hairstyle and headdress are rather close to the specimens found on Rhodes[13].
Stylistically, the characteristics of the Severe Style are evident. There is a clear distinction between the supporting and non-supporting leg, but the rigid erection of the upper body is not affected by this. The bulge of hair down to the ear region and the elongated head shape with the heavy lower face also suggest a dating towards the middle of the 5th century BC.
Determination: Around 450 BC. Rhodian type?
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[1] Attica: R. A. Higgins, Cat. of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities British Museum (London 1954) 83 f. no. 210-213 pl. 37; U. Sinn, Antike Terrakotten. Staatl. Kunstsamml. Kassel (Wilhelmshöhe 1977) 29 no. 27 pl. 8; B. Vierneisel-Schlörb, Kerameikos 15. Die figürlichen Terrakotten (München 1997) 17 f. no. 42. 43 pl. 11. Boeotia: U. Gehrig, Antiken aus Berliner Privatbesitz (Berlin 1975) 157; F. W. Hamdorf, Die figürlichenTerrakotten der Staatlichen Antikensammlungen München (Lindenberg im Allgäu 2014) 180 f. fig. D 80; S. Mollard-Besques, Cat. raisonné des Figurines et Reliefs en terre cuite grecs, étrusques et romains I (Paris 1954) 90 no. C 45 pl. 63; 91 no. C 46 pl. 64; B. Schmaltz, Terrakotten aus dem Kabirenheiligtum bei Theben (Berlin 1974) 175 no. 289 pl. 23; P. Leyenaar-Plaisier, Les Terres cuites grecques et romaines (Leiden 1979) 92 no. 185 pl. 31; J. Schneider-Lenyel, Griechische Terrakotten (München 1936) 19 fig. 25. Rhodes: Torso, Chr. Blinkenberg, Lindos I (Berlin 1931) 549 no. 2269 pl. 105; Higgins ibid. 83 f. no. 210-213 Taf. 37; id., Greek Terracottas (London 1967) 64 pl. 24 F; W. Hornbostel, Kunst der Antike (Mainz 1977) 136 f. fig. 108; Mollard-Besques ibid. 106 f. no. C 135 pl. 77; V. Poulsen, Der strenge Stil (Kopenhagen 1937) 82. 85 fig. 51; Winter 1, 1903, 59, 5; E. Paul, Antike Welt in Ton (Leipzig 1959) 29. 67 no. 39 pl. 16; N. Breitenstein, Cat. of Terracottas (Copenhagen 1941) 26 f. no. 251 Taf. 26.
[2] z. B. Thasos: G. Daux, Chronique des Fouilles 1963, BCH 88, 1964, 872 fig. 14; Olynthos: D. M. Robinson, Excavations at Olynthus VII (Baltimore 1933) 48 fig. 168, ibid. 169-173 pl. 20 f.; Sicily: M. Maas, Griechische Kunst aus Unteritalien und Sizilien (Karlsruhe 1987) 39 fig. 22; South Italy: Mollard-Besques ibid. 159 no. C 595 pl. 103; Vouni/Zypern: E. Gjerstad, SCE III (Stockholm 1937) 232, no. 49 pl. 79, 6; p. 234, no. 98 pl. 98, 7; p. 256, no. 485 pl. 98, 5.
[3] Hornbostel ibid. 142 no. 113.
[4] P. Leyenaar-Plaisier, Les Terres cuites grecques et romaines (Leiden 1979) 45 f. no. 75 pl. 15.
[5] Paul ibid. 29. 67 no. 39 Taf. 16; N. Breitenstein, Cat. of Terracottas (Copenhagen 1941) 26 f. no. 251 pl. 26.
[6] Higgins ibid. 83 no. 212 pl. 37.
[7] Gehrig ibid. 157; Higgins ibid. 216 f. no. 811 pl. 111 und no. 812 pl. 112.
[8] Hamdorf ibid. 180 fig. D 80; Leyenaar-Plaisier ibid. 92 no. 185 pl. 31; Mollard-Besques ibid. 91 C 46 pl. 64; Schneider-Lenyel ibid. 19 fig. 25; V. Verhoogen, Terres cuites gtecques aux Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire (Bruxelle 1956) 24 f. fig. 14 b.
[9] Gehrig ibid. 157.
[10] Schmaltz 1974, 109, pl. 23, 289; Mollard-Besques ibid. 90 f. no. C 45 pl. 63.
[11] s. note. 2.
[12] Higgins describes the colour of the clay in Kamiros and Lindos as generally leathery brown, id. ibid. 61.
[13] Blinkenberg ibid. 549 no. 2269 pl. 105; Higgins ibid. 83 f. no. 210-213 pl. 37; id., Greek Terracottas (London 1967) 64 pl. 24 F; Hornbostel ibid. 136 f. fig. 108; Mollard-Besques ibid. 106 f. no. C 135 pl. 77; Poulsen ibid. 82. 85 fig. 51; Winter 1, 1903, 59, 5; Breitenstein ibid. 26 f. no. 251 pl. 26.