Female head; Tanagra, Greece, Boeotia, 3rd century BC.

Female head; Tanagra, Greece, Boeotia, 3rd century BC.
Terracotta.
With certificate of authenticity from Ars Historica Archaeology. In good state of preservation.
Measurements: 5 x 4 x 4 cm (head), 11 x 4 x 4 x 4 cm (with stand).

Tanagra female head with diadem and slightly tilted to the left. Some superficial faults on the nose but the piece is in an excellent state of preservation.

The purpose of the tanagras was the funerary use, especially after the incineration gave way to the custom of burial from V BC. In the tombs of Boeotia, two or three meters deep, terracotta figurines of draped women and naked young men carrying offerings were found; vessels with various motifs were also deposited.

Sculpture of a female head in terracotta with floral headdress. In Tanagra, located in Boeotia (Greece), this type of terracotta figures were used both as offerings in temples and sanctuaries and as funerary offerings. The first Greek sculptures dating from the ninth century BC were small human figures made of malleable materials such as clay, ivory or wax. It was not until the archaic period during the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. that the Greeks began to work with stone, however, preserving other materials, mainly ceramics due to the rise of this industry, for small pieces, destined to serve as offerings in temples or as part of funerary offerings.