Terracotta figurine of Maenad and Pan group
- Title:
- Terracotta figurine of Maenad and Pan group
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Fritz Gurlitt (Gallery) (reproduction)
Unknown (original)
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
probably 19th c., possibly 3rd-2nd c. BCE
- Site:
- Berlin, Germany (reproduction)
probably Greece (original) - Location:
- Goldwin Smith Hall (Ground floor showcase), Cornell University
previously, 726 University Avenue
Berlin, Germany (reproduction)
probably Greece (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0593
- Accession Number:
- possibly Sage no. 472
472 (sticker and black paint underneath)
604 - File Name:
- CCC_0593.tif
- Culture:
- Unknown, probably Greek
- Style/Period:
- probably modern, in Hellenistic Greek style
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- Terracotta (with pseudo-patina sprayed on)
recreation
terracotta sculpture in the round, mold-made (original) - Subject:
- Tanagra figurines
Maenad
Pan (Greek deity) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 17.1 (with pedestal) x 14.6 (without pedestal) (centimeters, height x height)
pedestal: 16.4 x 12 (centimeters, width x diameter) - Description:
- This is a terracotta replica of a possible forgery of a Tanagra figurine of a seated Maenad and Pan group. The figures sit on a broad rock and both are represented in frontal pose with heads turned to look at each other. Pan sits at the viewer's left with his lower half draped and one hoof resting higher than the other. The curved top of a staff is visible in his right hand, which rests near his knee. His left arm is behind the back of the Maenad. Pan's face is grotesque, his features exaggerated. His ears are long and pointed, his furled brow overemphasized. His hair, beard, and drapery are rumpled. The Maenad is nude except for drapery that covers her left leg and right arm. She has curly hair, partially bound up. She rests her left arm on the rock and holds a small amphora in her left hand. The figurine is painted taupe. In his 1885 sales catalog, Gurlitt (no. 20) locates the original of this object in Berlin. The object is not encountered in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin's online collection database. This work is similar to a forgery in the Antikensammlung's collection (no. 3170x), Kriseleit and Zimmer no. 96. It is not clear whether the original from which this cast comes is genuine or fake. The burial sites in and around the Boeotian town of Tanagra underwent large-scale looting in the 1870s in pursuit of Hellenistic terracotta figurines known then, as now, as Tanagra figurines, or simply as Tanagras. The Hellenistic figurines discovered in the graves there--most commonly depicting women and girls in acts of leisure or daily life, and also depicting Aphrodite, Eros, young men and boys, and grotesque figures--appealed greatly to the sensibilities of the time and quickly became popular among collectors and the general public. By 1873, the Greek government made attempts to control the looting and established official excavations around the area. Smaller-scale grave-robbing continued alongside these less-than-thoroughly documented excavations. In addition to looting, forgery and extensive restoration of these mold-made objects became lucrative practice when demand for the objects was at its highest. Many major museums acquired such fakes, and, with the use of thermoluminescence dating, some 20% of the collection of Tanagra figurines in the Berlin Antikensammlung have been shown to be modern creations (Goedicke in Kriseleit and Zimmer, 80).
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
- Bibliography:
- Reynold Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines (London: Trefoil Books, 1986)
I. Kriseleit and G. Zimmer (eds.), Bürgerwelten (Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1994), see no. 96 for similar composition
Violaine Jeammet, ed., Tanagras. Figurines for Life and Eternity. The Musée du Louvre's Collection of Greek Figurines (Valencia: Fundación Bancaja, 2010)
Illustrated catalogue of the series of Fritz Gurlitt's Tanagra figures (London: Obach and Co., 1885), no. 20 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Berlin, Antikensammlung (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.