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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1916.351
Title
Standing Woman Holding a Box
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
late 5th-early 4th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Boeotia
Period
Classical period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/292540

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta, remains of white slip, traces of paint
Technique
Mold-made
Dimensions
37 x 11 cm (14 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
Base: 13.1 x 7.8 cm (5 3/16 x 3 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Edward P. Bliss; bequeathed to Fogg Art Museum, 1916.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Edward P. Bliss
Accession Year
1916
Object Number
1916.351
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Wearing peplos falling over waist band in graduated folds. Upper part plain, skirt falling in small pleats. Right arm bent with hand resting on breast. Left arm bent holding a square box. Right leg bent. Small face resting on long neck. Elaborate headdress surmounted by plain polos.
Traces of red on hair, skirt, base. Trace of blue on upper part of peplos. Large rectangular venthole. Bottom open. Broken vertically in half and repaired. Head replaced on shoulders.
Hard pale brown clay; powdery surface; remains of white slip and Egyptian blue.
Commentary
This terracotta figurine, of a woman holding a box, likely served a religious purpose as a votive offering (or gift) to a deity. Figurines of this type are often found in votive deposits in sanctuaries and occasionally in tombs in the late Classical period. Often, like this object, they perhaps represent an image of the dedicator engaged in cult or ritual for the honored deity, sometimes carrying ritual objects as if they were participating in a religious procession. See, for example, 1919.520, another figurine in the collection depicting a woman holding a sash or fillet cloth instead of a box. Comparison with other similar female figurines (particularly her intricately plaited hairstyle and wide headdress) suggest that this figurine was likely made in Boeotia, central Greece. Similar, contemporary terracotta figurines of young men from Boeotia also often wear an elaborate hairstyle and a wide headdress.

Publication History

  • George M. A. Hanfmann, Greek Art and Life, An Exhibition Catalogue, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1950), no. 156

Exhibition History

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu