Statuette of a Woman

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

about 450 BCE

Greek; Boeotia

Industrious workshops in Boeotia produced thousands of mold-made terracotta statuettes for religious, decorative, and funerary use for several centuries. This engaging statuette represents a woman whose down-turned eyes and pursed lips lend her a dejected air. Her hair is drawn up on the crown of her head and wrapped in a length of patterned cloth. She is clothed in a full-length, sleeveless dress and adorned with a necklace with seven pendants and a pair of bracelets on each arm. Remarkable for the preservation of its bold red, vivid yellow, and black coloration, this figurine reminds viewers that many ancient sculptures were once brightly painted.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Statuette of a Woman
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 450 BCE
Medium: terracotta, polychromy
Dimensions: 27.6 × 8.3 × 6.4 cm (10 7/8 × 3 1/4 × 2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Katherine K. Adler Memorial Fund
Reference Number: 2014.969
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/222013/manifest.json

Sotheby’s, London, Egyptian, Western Asiatic, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, sale cat. (Sotheby’s, London, May 4, 1970), lot 87 (ill.).
Christie’s, London, Antiquities, sale cat. (Christie’s, London, October 6, 2011), lot 70 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, April 5, 2017 - May 11, 2022.

Sold, Sotheby’s London, May 4, 1970, lot 87 to Imre and Nicholas T. Molnar; by descent to an heir; sold, Arte Primitivo, Howard S. Rose Gallery, January 24, 2006, lot 83, to a Los Angeles dealer [correspondence with Howard Rose in curatorial file]; sold, Christie’s, London, October 6, 2011, lot 70, to James Ede, Charles Ede, Ltd, London; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2014.

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Currently Off View

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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Department

Culture

Title

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.