1960.503: Woman or Girl with Articulated Limbs
Sculpture
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1960.503
- Title
- Woman or Girl with Articulated Limbs
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Work Type
- sculpture, statuette
- Date
- 5th century BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Europe, Greece
- Period
- Classical period
- Culture
- Greek
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/290814
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Technique
- Mold-made
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson
- Accession Year
- 1960
- Object Number
- 1960.503
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
Only the torso is preserved.
The torso of a woman or girl with articulated limbs, perhaps a dancer. Appears to be nude.
Would have been originally painted, but only small traces of white ground and a marron pigment are extant.
Solid. Mold-made body with modeled front and flat back. Would have had handmade arms and legs; shoulders and hips are pierced horizontally for their attachment. - Commentary
-
Because these figurines have limbs that move they are often called "dolls." Where they? Perhaps! Children play with all sorts of things, even when they are not supposed to. Did they function exclusively as dolls? Unlikely. Since they probably represent ritual dancers, they could have had a more "serious" religious function. Were these uses mutually exclusive? Not at all! The beauty of figurines is that they could have fulfilled many different roles depending on who held them, and when, and where. Indeed, their roles are still evolving, as today they work as objects that allow us to learn about the lived lives of past people.
Similar examples said to be from Corinth. See, for instance, 1865,0720.36 at the British Museum.
Publication History
- Fogg Art Museum, The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, A Special Exhibition, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1961), pp. 33-34, no. 280
Related Objects
Verification Level
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu