Ancient Greek Terracotta Sculpture

The phrase “terracotta sculpture” refers to all figurative representations in fired clay produced in Greece and in the Greek world during the first millennium bce, (from the Geometric period to the end of the Hellenistic period), whatever their size (figurine, statuette, or statue), whatever their manufacturing technique (modeling, molding, mixed), whatever their material form (in-the-round, relief, etc.), whatever their representation (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic [real or imaginary], diverse objects), and whatever the limits of their representation: full figure (figurines, statuettes, groups), truncated or abbreviated representations, including protomai, masks, busts, half figures, and anatomical representations, among others. All these objects, with the possible exception of large statues, were the products of artisans who were referred to in ancient texts as “coroplasts,” or modelers of images in clay. Because of this, the term “coroplasty,” or “coroplathy,” has been used to refer to this craft, but also increasingly to all of its products, large and small, while research on this material falls under the rubric of coroplastic studies. Greek terracottas were known to antiquarians from the mid-17th century onward from archaeological explorations in both sanctuary and funerary sites, especially in southern Italy and Sicily. Yet serious scholarly interest in these important representatives of Greek sculpture developed only in the last quarter of the 19th century, when terracotta figurines of the Hellenistic period were unearthed from the cemeteries of Tanagra in Boeotia in the 1870s and Myrina in Asia Minor in the 1880s. These immediately entered the antiquities markets, where their cosmopolitan, secular imagery had a great appeal for collectors and fueled scholarly interest and debate. At the same time, sanctuary deposits containing terracottas also began to be explored, but scholarly attention privileged funerary terracottas because of their better state of preservation. For most of the 20th century, the study of figurative terracottas basically was an art-historical exercise based in iconography and style that remained in the shadow of monumental sculpture. It is only in the last four decades or so that coroplastic studies has developed into an autonomous field of research, with approaches specific to the discipline that consider modalities of production, as well as the religious, social, political, and economic roles that terracottas played in ancient Greek life by means of broad sociological and anthropological approaches. Consequently, this bibliography mainly comprises publications of the last forty years, although old titles that are still essential for research are also included.

INTERPRETATION OF A GROUP OF TERRACOTTA FIGURINES FROM ANCIENT GREEK SANCTUARIES OF THE CRIMEAN PRYAZOVIA

В статье рассматривается группа терракотовых статуэток с изображениями мальчиков, происходящая из раскопок сельских святилищ Крымского Приазовья. Сюжеты с детьми широко представлены в боспорской коропластике II-I вв. до н. э. и долгое время считались бытовыми. Однако обстоятельства находок и анализ иконографии позволяют проследить сакральный смысл этих статуэток. В контексте ритуальной практики святилищ фигурки детей с сопутствующими атрибутами (птица, собака, лошадь, щит) могут быть интерпретированы как воплощение полисемантического образа божественного ребенка, символизирующего плодородное жизненное начало, потенциальную жизнь, обновление, возрождение, заключающего в себе характеристики лиминального существа, помещаемого в сакральном пространстве на границе земного и потустороннего миров, наделенного функциями медиатора, связующего космические зоны. The paper reports on a group of terracotta figurines featuring boys that comes from excavations of rural sanctuaries in the Crimean Priazovia. Narrative scenes with children are widely represented in Bosporan coroplast of the 2 - 1 cc. BC, for a long time they were considered items for household use. However, circumstances of the finds and analysis of iconography suggest sacral meaning of these figurines. In the context of the sanctuary practice, the children figurines with accompanying attributes (a bird, a dog, a horse, a shield) can be interpreted as incarnation of a polysemantic image of a divine child as a symbol of a fertile start of life, potential life, renewal, rebirth that includes characteristics of a liminal creature placed in sacral space on the borderline between the human world and another world with functions of a mediator linking cosmic zones.

Chapter Five: The Archaic and Classical Figurines

The terracotta figurines and protomai from Eleon form a compelling corpus of evidence for activity on the acropolis during the Archaic and Classical periods. This chapter provides an overview of the figurines recovered in the first five years of excavation at Eleon. A chronological survey relies on stylistic analysis, as nearly all come from the ramped entryway to the site, either built into the fill of the ramp itself in secondary deposition, or in later pits disrupting these levels. The assemblage is composed of a range of handmade and moldmade female figurines in seated and standing postures; the lingering Archaic type of the early Classical period is prevalent among these. Given their quantity and the nature of the associated material, it can reasonably be assumed that the figurines are linked to votive activity on the hilltop, although specifics elude us beyond association with a female deity. Dedication of the figurines peaked in the mid-fifth century, at least 25 years after the construction of the polygonal wall. This may be indicative of shifts in votive practice over time, as well as developments in local terracotta production before the emergence of a “Boeotian” coroplastic style.

THE KAUSIA BOY FIGURINES FROM DEMETRIAS: A REASSESSMENT

Demetrias has yielded the largest number of terracotta figurines of a popular iconographic type of the Hellenistic period: the ‘kausia boy’, shown standing, dressed in the chiton, chlamys, kausia and krepides. The rediscovery of the material from A.S. Arvanitopoulos’ excavations at Demetrias in the early twentieth century has provided an opportunity to reassess the significance of this iconographic type in the city and in the wider Hellenistic world. Combining and comparing the material from Arvanitopoulos’ excavations with that from other excavations in the city by the German Archaeological Institute and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Magnesia, it is now clear that the kausia boy figurines from Demetrias were discovered in various contexts, including sanctuaries, graves and the foundations of the royal palace (Anaktoron); the largest number was found in the sanctuary of Pasikrata. It has been possible to identify more than ten technical types, confirming the importance of these figures in the coroplastic production of the city. This paper also discusses the iconographic types of the ‘shepherds’, kausia-wearing boys holding the syrinx and the lagobolon, as well as the animal-carrying boys, since they too are wearing the same attire, and are mechanically related to the simple kausia boy types. The study of Demetrias’ specimens, combined with the study of the distribution of these iconographic types in the Hellenistic world and the relevant iconographic, literary and epigraphic evidence enable its reinterpretation.