(Hellenistic Greek Art [continued (7))[– Terracotta figurines][28th January 1991]

[Redbook8:202][19910128:1247g](Hellenistic Greek Art [continued (7))[– Terracotta figurines][28th January 1991]

19910128.1247

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[A photocopy in the ms of ‘a photograph of a terracotta figurine of a young woman from Tanagra’ (height 33cm (13in), Staatliche Museum, East Berlin), with accompanying text, from Encylopaedia of Visual Art 1:156, is not reproduced in the ts. but includes the following text:]

‘... [Tanagra figurines] were extremely popular throughout the Greek world from c[irca]340 until 200BC[E]. Tanagra figurines were chiefly female, fully clad, and represented scenes of daily life, though occasionally one may be interpreted as a goddess, a Muse (perhaps with musical instrument), or Aphrodite half-naked. Women and girls stand, dance, or sit, sometimes playing knucklebones. Occasionally young men and boys – seated or standing – are the subjects, or chubby, babyish Erotes, usually in flight. There are also a few grotesque figures, probably in part influenced by contemporary comedies – ugly old nurses, for example, or enormously fat women. Naturalism was the aim, with relaxed poses and familiar dress to give the figures a human quality which helps to explain their popular appeal....’

‘After 200BC[E] the terracotta industry fragmented, different centers concentrating on certain subjects.... Tanagra types, in bigger, more varied, and more elaborate forms, continued until c[irca]130BC[E] as production and repertoire gradually increased. Mythological subjects featured frequently and comic actors too, many of whom are very fine, although the style in general finally degenerated into grotesque coarseness.’

– Encylopaedia of Visual Art 1:156

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