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Boeotian Terracotta Goddess IdolAn ancient archaic Greek terracotta abstract idol of a standing goddess, her arms outstretched, a crown on her head, and with long locks of hair down her neck. She wears a belted garment, and a necklace. Boeotia, Greece. The Boeotian plain was in antiquity as today, a productive agricultural area. It has been plausibly suggested that these figures represent Demeter or Persephone, godesses related to fecundity and the harvest. Many examples were excavated in Tanagra and Rhitsona in the 19th century. At the time local Greek villagers called them papades or 'priest' figures. Confer: R. A. Higgins, Greek Terracottas, (London, 1967), pls. 18 C-D; P. N. Ure, Aryballoi and Figurines from Rhitsona in Boeotia, (Cambridge, 1934), pl. 13. Formerly in an Atlanta private collection, acquired in the 1940's. Inv#: 4306 $1,500 |
