170 - FEMALE STATUETTE

FEMALE STATUETTE Terracotta, white slip, traces of red and blue polychrome H. 36 cm Magna Graecia, 6th century B.C. A standing female figure, barefoot and with feet together on a two-tiered rectangular base, wearing a finely pleated chiton and a himation draped like a shawl, the edge of which falls in tiered folds along the right side, the edges highlighted in blue. Her right arm, bent forward, holds a dove in her palm, while her left hand pulls a panel of the skirt into diagonal folds. The face, with an archaic smile and almond-shaped eyes, is framed by a band of tight curls extending over the temples and behind the ears, and the head is adorned with a wide, flat, rimmed disc bearing traces of blue. Long, beaded strands of hair fall on either side of the neck onto the shoulders and chest; on the reverse side, which is minimally worked, the hair forms a broad mass beneath the disc, adorned with horizontal striations, extending to the upper back. A thermoluminescence test conducted by QED Laboratory accompanies this lot. Provenance Former private collection in southern France, acquired before 1983. Photographic records, December 1983. Collection inventory dated 1991. By descent. Female statuette A standing female figure, her bare feet together on a stepped rectangular base, wearing a finely pleated chiton and a diagonally draped himation, its flap falling in stepped folds along the right side, the borders highlighted in blue. The right arm, bent forward, holds a dove in the palm, while the left hand gathers a fold of the skirt into oblique pleats. The face, with almond-shaped eyes and an archaic smile, is framed by a band of tight curls extending over the temples and behind the ears, and the head is crowned by a large, flat, rimmed disc retaining traces of blue. Long beaded tresses fall on either side of the neck over the shoulders and chest; on the roughly worked reverse, the hair forms a broad, horizontally ridged mass below the disc, falling to the upper back.