Greek Canosan Terracotta Seated Female

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Ancient | Ethnographic | Fine Art

By Artemis Gallery

Jul 5, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-07-05 10:00:00 2018-07-05 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient | Ethnographic | Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-fine-art-3306
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• Lot Description
  Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosan Hellenistic Period, ca. 3rd to 2nd century BCE. An elegant votive figure of a seated woman who is draped in a beautiful garment, her visage sensitively rendered and framed by a centrally parted wavy coiffure swept up high and adorned by a diadem. Ample pink, red, and white pigments still adorn the surface. Size: 8.5" H (21.6 cm); 9" H (22.9 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  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 from earlier and neighboring traditions. The clay is buff, with the decoration applied directly to it without the use of slip. In this example, the surface is liberally adorned with pink, white, blue, and a red pigments.
  
  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 carried out 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 dead 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.
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
  
  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.
  
  #136213

  Condition

  Repaired from multiple pieces . Loss to hemline of drapery and one leg. Adhesive strips beneath buttocks/thighs. Expected surface wear commensurate with age. Nice remains of pink, red, and white pigments.
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