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Archaic East Greek Kore
Circa 550-500 BC
Description: Spectacular terracotta vessel in the form of a very fine archaic standing female presenting a well modeled bird in her right hand held close to her chest. The type represents a high point in East Greek archaic art.
She stands in full frontal pose with rigid countenance. Her round face betrays her Oriental influence with small heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes outlined in relief with thin arched brows above. Nearly flat nose and delicate closed lips upturned at the corners ever so slightly, typical of the so-called “reverent archaic smile”. She wears a headband with long braided hair flowing down her shoulders, two tresses in front and the rest neatly modeled across her back. She wears a chiton and transverse himation with gentle folds indicated. Her left hand rests by her side and draws the central panel of her chiton to the side. She wears slippers on her feet and stands with left foot slightly forward atop an integral flat rectangular plinth.
The back of the vessel, formed in a separate mold, is summarily rendered with modeled braids of hair in a blunt even mass and contours of her figure evident. Formed of heavily micaceous, finely grained, pale reddish clay. Hollow-made with round rolled-over pouring aperture atop her head. Standing korai figures, such as this example, are a distinctive genre of early Greek art believed to be either votive or commemorative statues commissioned by wealthy patrons.
Some examples have been found with inscriptions across the base describing the figure’s function, patron and artist. Exceptional example of an important increasingly scarce type.
Height: 7 in. (18 cm)
Condition: Intact.
Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Professor and Mrs. Sid Port, California, USA. Also ex: British property acquired prior to 1996.
Reference: See HIGGINS no. 57 for similar example from Rhodes.
Background: Mould-made terracottas were a major innovation of the Greek Archaic Period, making it possible to “mass produce” figurines of high artistic quality. Both monumental stone sculpture as well as their small scale terracotta counterparts depicting korai represent a significant stage in the evolution of Greek art. The type, which changed very little from its first appearance in 660 BC until the end of the Archaic Period around 480 BC, is prevalent throughout. Though an Oriental influence can be discerned, the Greeks transformed the kore into something very much their own, and it marked the link between the strictly rigid earlier human forms and the graceful fluidity of the Classical Period.
Wikipedia Reference: Peplos Kore.
Price: SOLD
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