Female protome surmounted on a plaque that was found in many fragments and was restored. It was found during one of the
Acropolis
excavation campaigns. The figure has a high stephane on the head which is decorated with bands and red, white and blue ornaments. The forehead is framed by rows of locks in relief whereas the facial features are painted black and red. White slip is preserved all over the surface.
Terracotta female protomes are usually encountered as dedications in public sanctuaries offered primarily to female deities; as ritualistic objects in domestic shrines; as objects with apotropaic or decorative character in private households and as grave offerings in women's and children's burials. Their interpretation is uncertain since they are sometimes considered depictions of deities and other times of mere mortals.
Pottier, E., Les statuettes de terre cuite dans l'antiquité, Paris: Hachette, 1890, σελ. 41, εικ. 15 Winter, F., «Sitzungsberichte der Archaolog. Gesellschaft zu Berlin. 1893 Juli», Archäologischer Anzeiger 1893, σελ. 144, εικ. 21 Winter, F., Die antiken Terrakotten. Die Typen der figürlichen Terrakotten, III.1, Berlin/Stuttgart, 1903, σελ. 239, εικ. σχ. 7, αρ.κατ. 7 Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 405, αρ.κατ. 623 Knoblauch, P., Studien zur archaisch-griechischen Tonbildnerein in Kreta, Rhodos, Athen und Bootien, Halle, 1937, σελ. 186, αρ.κατ. 377 Μπρούσκαρη, Μ., Μουσείον Ακροπόλεως. Περιγραφικός κατάλογος, Αθήνα, 1974, σελ. 36, εικ. 43 Croissant, F., Les protomes feminines archaiques. Recherches sur les représentations du visage dans la plastique grecque de 550 à 480 av. J.-C, 1983, Paris, σελ. 244, εικ. 98, 99, 101, αρ.κατ. 157 Τριάντη, Ι., Το Μουσείο Ακροπόλεως, Ο Κύκλος των Μουσείων, Αθήνα, 1998, σελ. 155, εικ. 164