Canosan Terracotta Standing Female Figure

About Auction

Live

Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 21, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-02-21 10:00:00 2019-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3858
An important one-day auction featuring museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Far East / Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal, Oceanic, Native American, Spanish Colonial, Russian, Fossils, Ancient Jewelry, Fine Art, so much more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

View Full Catalog (472)

• Lot Description
  Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosan Hellenistic Period, ca. 3rd century BCE. Breathtakingly beautiful and in wonderful condition! An elegant votive figure of a woman, most likely a goddess or endearing mourner, standing in contrapposto, draped in a voluminous himation over her peplos, the draperies clinging to her feminine figure. In addition, she is bedecked with a serpentine choker, round earrings, and an elaborate coiffure with stippled hair to suggest texture that is rolled away from her visage, wrapped in a ribbon, and tied in a low chignon at the back. She stands upon an integral plinth and spool-shaped pedestal. Generous remains of pink and white pigment still grace the figure and her garments. Size: 9.125" H (23.2 cm)
  
  Female figures like this one played an interesting role in Canosan funerary practices. They were placed into Canosan tombs as replacements for large red-figure kraters from the century before, but first, mourners carried them in funerary processions and kept them present while they engaged in rituals at the tomb. Although almost all of the statues known from Canosan tombs are women, they seem to represent goddesses or mourners, rather than the gender of the deceased. In this society, young women played a major role as mourners. The Canosans, like other members of Classical society, believed that the spirits of the deceased remained at the tomb and watched over the living. Canosan tombs were re-opened frequently to bury members of the same lineage, and so these figures were probably reused as well, maintaining the connection between the living and the dead.
  
  Canosa, or Canosion as it was known then, was a major center of the ceramics and pottery trade when it was a Greek polis. It produced truly unique pottery, completely different in decoration style (although not in shape) from earlier and neighboring traditions. The clay is buff, with the decoration skillfully applied directly to it without the use of slip.
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Richard Wagner Collection, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, acquired in the 1960s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #143439

  Condition

  Missing left hand as shown. Normal surface wear with some nicks and abraded areas. Generous remains of pink and white pigments upon the figure and her vestments. Mineral and root marks.
• Shipping Info

  • All shipping is handled in-house for your convenience. Your invoice from Artemis Gallery will include shipping calculation instructions. If in doubt, please inquire BEFORE bidding for estimated shipping costs for individual items.

• Buyer's Premium
  • 26.50 %