Female Figurine (330–200 BCE): Art, History and Details

Female Figurine (330–200 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This figurine depicts an elegantly draped young woman wearing a cloak or himation over a dress called a chiton. The contrast between her sharp elbow and flowing skirts illustrates an interest in the stretch and fold of different fabrics. Originally brilliantly painted, this figurine still has traces of color such as the red hair and the white on her face. The site of Tanagra in central Greece is known for its abundance of terracotta figurines like this one made by mixing and matching different molds.

Object facts

• Title: Female Figurine
• Date: 330–200 BCE
• Culture: Greece, Tanagra (Boeotia)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: molded terracotta, painted
• Dimensions: Overall: 23.5 cm (9 1/4 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1926.522

A detail from the museum

This woman’s rolled hairstyle is now called a “melon coiffure.”

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Brummer Gallery Records. Cloisters (Museum), n.d.
• Howard, Rossiter, "Greek Sculptures in Terra-Cotta." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 14, no. 2 (1927).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.