Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosan Hellenistic Period, ca. 3rd century BCE. A lovely group of two hollow-molded terracotta votive figurines, each depicting a woman shrouded by a himation and wearing a veil. Both exhibit a similar posture with extended right legs, though the larger seems to favor this leg slightly more than her smaller counterpart. The larger figure is decorated with thick layers of chalky white and fuchsia-hued pigment, and the smaller has similar white pigment adorned with pale turquoise and yellow-green pigment. 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 applied directly to the surface without the use of slip. Size of largest (fuchsia-hued): 1.9" W x 5.2" H (4.8 cm x 13.2 cm).
Provenance: private Healy collection, Studio City, California, USA, acquired over the last twenty years
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#137560
Condition
Both figures have abrasions and wear to some high-point areas, with minor nicks to bases and bodies, and light fading to original pigmentation, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits as well as great traces of original pigmentation throughout.