"Doll" with Truncated Limbs
Greek
Complete figurine, in excellent condition.
A standing woman, nude, with truncated arms that end above the elbows, and legs that end above the knees. Her hair is parted at the middle, framing the face with well-formed waves. Beyond that it is covered by a long cap, a sakkos, that extends far behind her back. The sakkos is brimmed with a stephane (or metal band) and tied with a ribbon that zig-zags along the cap, and trails the stephane to the proper left ear, falling behind it and disappearing near the middle of the neck. She faces forward with unreadable, Classical features: short, triangular forehead; small, deep-set eyes; straight nose; closed mouth. A rounded chin meets the thick, deep neck at a 90-degree angle. Large shoulders, especially the right; there seems to have been some effort to soften the left shoulder by hand. Small, pointed breasts. Muscular abdomen.
Would have been painted originally. White ground extant all over exterior. Dark red pigment remains on hair; black used for the ribbon and a diagonal band across the figure’s back.
Hollow body with solid head. Mold-made in two bivalve molds, likely terracotta. Some handmade additions (hair, perhaps breasts). Top heavy. Some attempt to conceal seams on exterior; reinforced along the interior, between the legs, rather than on the sides. Open bottom, perhaps shaped and reinforced to hold two fingers.
White-silpped terracotta with traces of paint
Classical period, Early