Description:
A larger than average, hand-modelled statuette depicting a female figure with a flat, thin body, expanding near the bottom to an almost oval flat base, allowing the figure to stand. The object has beautifully preserved dark brown painted geometric details, including a necklace with a circular pendant around the neck.
The figure has schematically rendered, short, curving, upturned arms and a disproportionately long neck, along which long thick strands of hair fall on each shoulder. Most striking is her head, the main characteristic of which is the large nose, occupying a substantial part of the face and possibly considered as one of the basic elements of the human face (Van Rooijen, p. 45). The eyes have been indicated, and the mouth and chin are absent. This face, which is typical for the type, is commonly called a mouse face or a bird face in scientific literature (Szabó, p. 60; Van Rooijen, p. 45).
On top of her head she wears a small flaring polos with a large projecting volute or spiral finial (compare the volutes on Boeotian libation vessels). The polos is a cylindrical hat which can vary in shape, size, and decoration. The origin of the headgear would have been a characteristic part of the dress of the eastern fertility goddesses, such as Astarte and Kybele. It became a common feature of dress in the 7th century B.C. over a vast area. But although common, the background of the polos is still debated scientifically. For an overview see Van Rooijen, p. 58-63, who discusses the relation to the kalathos (basket) and the modius (grain measure), and also lists various and sometimes contradicting theories concerning the polos: functional or ceremonial, indicating votive purposes, reserved for deities or also worn by worshippers, a symbol of transition, connected with the underworld, an indication of marital status or a bridal crown, used in a transition ritual from virgin to married woman etc. Van Rooijen also points out that, due to this uncertainty, the presence of a polos does not automatically identify the figure as a goddess.
Such statuettes are sometimes called "idols" or "plank idols", but usually they are referred to as "pappades", a name given to them by the Boeotian villagers who first found them in their fields and who noticed that the polos resembled the cylindrical headdress worn by modern Greek Orthodox priests (pappas) (Van Rooijen, p. 39, note 215; Szabó, p. 10).
The interpretation of this type of figurine is difficult. The explanation that the "pappades" represent heroized dead was suggested long ago for the interpretation of 6th century Boeotian terracotta grave goods, but this interpretation was replaced later with the idea that the types in question were probably divinities which could not further be identified. More recently it has also been suggested to seek the identity of the "pappades" in the sphere of Demeter and Persephone/Kore (Szabó, p. 118), given their frequent presence in graves, which leads to the hypothesis that they were linked with the worship of these chthonic deities. Yet another theory is that they are representations in clay of the "daidala", a wooden figure that was designated and dressed as a bride for a wedding during the Daidala festival in Boeotia, in honour of Hera, the patron goddess of marriage. For an overview of interpretations and sometimes erroneous identifications of terracottas in general see Uhlenbrock (2016).
Shortly after their first discovery, these terracottas were though to date up to the 8th century B.C., because of their primitive appearance and their often geometrical decoration. But since the scientific excavations of the early twentieth century this dating has been revised. The proto-pappades, the earliest primitive idols with a cylindrical body, date to the early 6th century B.C.; the beginning of the production of the "real" "pappades", characterised by the typical "coiled head termination" and "beak-like nose" is placed in the second quarter of the sixth century B.C. (Pisani, 2012; Strocka, p. 133). Our figurine was created at the height of the period, circa 570 - 550 B.C.
Bibliography:
Eberhard Paul, "Die böotischen Brettidole" in: Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig, 8 (1958–1959), p. 165–206;
Marcella Pisani, "Boeotian Terracottae (Antiquity)", Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Boeotia (2012);
Gerrie K. van Rooijen, Goddesses of Akragas. A Study of Terracotta Votive Figurines from Sicily (Leiden, Sidestone Press, 2021);
Volker Michael Strocka, "Hermes und die Nymphen für Boioter", in Hans von Steuben (Hrsg.), Mouseion. Beiträge zur antiken Plastik. Festschrift zu Ehren von Peter Cornelis Bol (Möhnesee, Bibliopolis, 2007), p. 131-139;
Miklós Szabó, Archaic Terracottas of Boeotia (Roma, «L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 1994);
Jaimee P. Uhlenbrock, "Research Perspectives in Greek Coroplastic Studies. The Demeter Paradigm and the Goddess Bias", Les Carnets de l’Association for Coroplastic Studies, volume 14 (2016).
Dating:
Greece, Boeotia, circa 570 - 550 B.C.
Size:
Height circa 21 cm.
Provenance:
Ex Rhenish collection, acquired in the 1970s; thereafter private Virginia collection, acquired from Royal Athena, July 2015; thereafter with Sands of Time Ancient Art, Washington DC.
Condition:
Complete, broken into two pieces below the arms and professionally rejoined with overpainting only on the join; minor cosmetic retouching to the nose and top of the volute; the oval ring base is not completely horizontal, causing the figure to lean slightly backwards; excellent remaining polychromy. A wonderful piece, larger than average.
Price:
€ 6,000
Stock number:
C1343