Collection Item

From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleBust of a female

About this objectA terracotta bust of a female, which is likely to have been made as a votive offering. This figurine would have been made by pressing the clay into a mould, but the mould was worn when our piece was made, leading to some of the details being a little blurred. Records indicate that the figurine may have come from Selinus, or Selinunte, an Ancient Greek city on the island of Sicily.

The hair above the woman's face and down to her shoulders is dressed and beaded in three rows. Over her head she wears a diadem or polos. The style of the hair and some aspects of the handling of the face, especially around the mouth, have an archaic flavour, but other aspects such as the treatment of the brow and nose suggest that one should be looking at a production date nearer the middle of the fifth century BC.

The figure is possibly a representation of the goddess Demeter, or her daughter Persephone (also known as Kore). She had a special place in the religion of Greek Sicily, appropriately enough on an island that was a major source of wheat in the Classical world.

Date Madeca. 470-430 BCE

PeriodEarly Classical

Place NotesSaid to have been acquired in Selinus, Sicily

Medium and MaterialsClay: Terracotta

Style and IconographySicilian

TechniqueMolding (forming)

MeasurementsHeight 118mm (preserved); Width 100mm (maximum)

Subject and Association KeywordsFigurative art

Subject and Association KeywordsGoddesses in art

Subject and Association KeywordsWomen in art

Subject and Association KeywordsArt and religion

Subject and Association KeywordsMourning customs

Subject and Association KeywordsClothing and dress

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Credit LineDonated by Jennifer A.W. Warren, 1957

Object TypeFigurine

Object number38.57

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved