Hellenistic Terracotta and Tanagras

Tanagras capture the imagination because they are seemingly equally about fashions as they are about their subjects. Tanagras are a type of terracotta figurine that showcases the culturally specific attire of women and girls at the time they were made. Pieces of clothing like himations (thin and gauzy Hellenistic cloaks) are painstakingly representedStatuette of a Standing Woman though the woman is clearly covered from head to foot in cloth, the detail in the skirt and the many delicate pleats and folds in the fabric clearly impart a sense of delicate gauzy drapery to her outfit. She seems as though she is wearing something that would billow in the breeze like a thin sheet of silk. The emphasis of the folds at the points where her body stretches the fabric, the elbow and hand at the opposing hip, further prod you into seeing beyond the heavy opaque quality of the terracotta the sculpture is crafted from and help you to envision her as she was, clothed in a wealth of delicate thin fabrics.

Here also with this Tanagras of this little girl, dressed similarly to the woman pictured above, the detail in her clothing lends it a lifelike flowiness. Best of all though, is perhaps the intricate attention paid to etching her hair into a style called a "melon coiffer fashionable for ladies in the late 4th century BC" (metmuseum.org) the hairstyle is achieved by a series of over-layed twisted strands all gathered to the back and is exquisitely rendered here.

Lastly here is my favorite of the terracotta figurines. This one is a sculpture of two girls playing. The game they are playing is called 'ephedrismos'. "As described by Pollus (IX, 119), the game involved throwing balls or pebbles at a stone in an attempt to overturn it. The player who fails to do so is blindfolded an must run to touch the stone while carrying the winner on her back." (metmuseum.org) The lightness and frivolity of the game is evident in the children's expressions. Especially the set of the girl's face as she climbs onto her compatriot's back for a slog towards the missed rock. The hair is also beautiful in this sculpture and truly made excellent use of the rich color of terracotta to great artistic effect. The curl of the hair and again the fineness of the fabric that clothes the girls is beautifully rendered, an impressive accomplishment in terracotta clay.