Object Details
| Catalogue Number | 43 |
| Inventory Number | 81.AD.158 |
| Typology | Statuette |
| Location | Canosa |
| Dimensions | H: 23.5 cm; W: 7.3 cm |
Fabric
Orange in color (Munsell 7.5 yr 7/4), friable and fairly well purified, with small reflective inclusions; extensive traces of polychromy over a thick layer of white ground: brownish red (hair), pink (complexion, himation, and chiton), light blue (leaves of the wreath), and red (mouth).i The body and head were made with two bivalve molds. There are two small holes on the shoulder and an oval-shaped hole in the back.ii
- The undercoat for the polychromy, as found in other examples, is made of unfired kaolinite; see F. Van der Wielen-van Ommeren, “La céramique hellénistique de Canosa: Techniques de fabrication,” in Proceedings of the Third Symposium on Ancient Greek and Related Pottery, Copenhagen, August 31–September 4, 1987 (Copenhagen, 1988), pp. 665–73.
- For the presence of holes on the shoulders, see the example in Ceramiques antiques 1987, no. 107, said to be for the insertion of small metal ornaments.
Condition
The base was restored with pink mastic, the polychromy is worn away, and there are a number of blackish stains on the surface.
Provenance
– 1981, Robert Blaugrund (Los Angeles, CA), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1981.
Bibliography
Unpublished.
Description
The statuette depicts a draped female figure in a standing position, resting her weight on the left leg, while the right leg is bent and drawn back. The left arm is folded against her side while the right hand holds the himation in the front. The himation completely envelops the body, with a fold that drapes over her left shoulder. On the lower part of the body, beneath the cloak, is the pink chiton with heavy, ample folds. The oval face is painted pink, with regular facial features; the lips of the small mouth preserve traces of red pigment. Parted in the middle, the hair is combed to either side in wavy locks that form a chignon at the nape of the neck; atop the head is a diadem and wreath of ivy leaves. The small eyes turn downward; the figure wears spherical earrings.
The statuette is a product of Canosa from the end of the fourth century BC to the beginning of the third century BC, based on numerous statuettes from this Daunian center with comparable typology, fabric, and polychromy. The figure echoes a type, inspired by the production of Tanagra, with a characteristic ivy wreath, which can be traced back to a Dionysian model; the arrangement of the himation gathered in the front was a widespread motif in Taranto and recurs also in various examples from Campania.1 Standing draped female statuettes were also utilized as attachments on large polychrome vases with plastic decoration made in Canosa, datable between the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the third century BC.2
Notes
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For the presence of the Tanagra repertoire in Canosa, see V. Jeammet, “Entre tradition grecque et indigène: Canosa,” in Jeammet 2003b, pp. 290–91. See also the statuettes from Canosa in Ceramiques antiques 1987, nos. 139, 144, and 145; and from Taranto in Besques 1986, pl. 24e, datable to the beginning of the third century BC, with the spool base typical of Tarentine production. Also see the statuette, from the third quarter of the third century BC, from the funerary deposit of a tomb on the Via Tito Livio, in A. dell’Aglio and D. Graepler, “Découverte d’une tombe à Tarente,” in Jeammet 2003b, pp. 285–89, no. 226. See also a small draped female figure from Cuma from the second half of the fourth to the first half of the third century BC, in Bonghi Jovino 1990, pp. 65–96, pl. I, nos. 1–3, a type also found at Minturno and at Capua. ↩
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See F. van der Wielen, “Ceramica a decorazione plastica e policroma,” in Cassano 1992, pp. 310–21. ↩