3.

Tanagras
from Athens and Boeotia
 The Origin of the Tanagras:
Fourth century B.C. Athens
The Origin and Diffusion of Tanagra figurines1
Violaine Jeammet
Tanagra figurines take their name from the site
of Tanagra where they were discovered. The
troubled and uncertain circumstances of their
discovery already described above (see fore-
ward and JB, pp. XXXX) seriously reduced any
possibility of understanding why the phenom-
enon appeared in the region. This anonymous
corpus we do not know if it was given any
specific name during antiquity, or indeed even
if it was perceived as such - comprising not
only the famous seated and standing draped
women, but also figures of young men, chil-
dren and grotesques, was probably not very dif-
ferent from previous corpus of the sixth and
fifth centuries B.C., which consisted essentially
of seated and standing clothed female figures.
In both cases, their destination (tombs, temples,
and to a lesser extent private homes, where
they were used in the domestic cult2), and func-
tion - principally or solely religious were iden-
tical. Although the Tanagra figurines owe their
modern popularity to the bourgeois tastes of
the late nineteenth century3, they were above
all the plastic expression of the transition pe-
riod of fourth century Greece, when the city of
Athens, although still the leading political, eco-
nomic and artistic power of the ancient world
in spite of the ruinous Peloponnesian War, was
beginning to cede its place to the emerging
kingdom of Macedonia. The new geopolitical
axis would soon be transferred to East Greece
(the coastal area of Modern Turkey), a region of-
fering another philosophy of life, and in turn a
different kind of art.
The Tanagran style is generally considered to
have lasted from 330 to 200 B.C. a period that
coincides with the convergence of these two
worlds: the conquests of Alexander the Great
and the expansion of the different kingdoms he
created. However, although the date tradition-
ally proposed for the end of the style seems
justified - at least for mainland Greece4 - the
4 5
one suggested for its appearance remains more
problematic. It depends on the chronological
fluctuations estimated for the different places
where the first examples of the so-called Tana-
gra figurines were found or not found. It is
generally assumed that no Tanagra figurines
were discovered in Olynthos, a city in Halkidiki
that was destroyed in 3485, whereas they were
found in different deposits at Athens6. This con-
firms Burr-Thompsons conclusions that the
Tanagra style was created in Athens, a theory
further backed up by the discovery of Tanagras
on the Acropolis (cat. nos. 62 to 70).
The origins: craft art at Athens
It is not after all surprising that a new genre of
figurines - worthy in some cases of rivalling
sculpture - should have appeared in Athens dur-
ing the fourth century, when the city was still
a leading power. Three closely linked factors,
technical, iconographical and stylistic, explain
this appearance.
The world of Comedy
It would seem that the first important change
in the traditional world of coroplasty occurred
when coroplasts started to represent Middle
Comedy characters in about 400-380 B.C. (cat.
nos 31-34). The change was two-fold: on the one
hand, Middle Comedy (with Aristophanes last
comedies) and then New Comedy (with Menan-
der) introduced new figures into the strictly
codified and repetitive series previously pro-
duced by this craft category of coroplasts, who,
except for the Boeotian production of genre
subjects (cat. nos. 17-26) had so far only pro-
duced figurines of more or less identifiable di-
vinities. The new themes represented by the
statuettes, such as the nurse, the teacher, and
children, paralleled the realism affecting con-
temporary sculpture, with its figures of old peo-
ple and children7. But the principal change, the
really revolutionary innovation was a technical
one. Modellers, possibly influenced by bronze-
makers who produced their statues following
the lost wax technique8, seized at the idea of us-
ing moulds, a technique which enabled them to
reproduce their works, and to create objects in
the round with precise, carved features similar
to those of bronze works. It was in this way that
they began to adopt a technique which al-
though known since the seventh century B.C.,
had never been employed in Greece itself for
figurines, even if it had been used in the pro-
duction of plastic vases.
Plastic vase workshops and the pre-Tanagra
figurines9
Although traditional red-figure pottery already
seemed in its death throes - even if it was en-
joying its last moments of glory with the Kerch
vases - a style where red figures were painted
with added white (possibly before firing), as
well as with green or blue matt paint and the
occasional gilding (after firing) - vase work-
shops sensed the iconographic and technical
changes that were occurring and seem to have
operated an astute reconversion. It is difficult to
know which of two factors occurred first: the
growing disinterest on the part of Greek and lo-
cal customers for red-figure vases, or the com-
petition from other products. What does seem
clear is that from the end of the fifth century,
Athenian workshops on the Agora began creat-
ing new categories of pottery which combined
plastic reliefs and vases in an original way.
There were the relief vases, produced by mod-
elling the figured reliefs by hand or stamping
them in a mould, and then sticking these reliefs
onto the surface of the vase with barbotine (a
thin slip) or black glaze. Another category pro-
duced during the same period were the fig-
urine vases10; these displayed an increasingly
exuberant decoration, consisting of a plaque
in relief, taken from one or several moulds,
which now formed the front of the vase. All
Fig. 21
Contents of a little girls tomb,
Athens, ca. 380-370 B.C. Athens, Kerameikos Museum,
inv. hS. 264.
that remained of the original decoration and
shape of such vases was the back, with its dec-
oration of red palmettes on a black background
(cat. nos. 41-43). The large cut-out necessary for
the obverse of these reliefs can sometimes ex-
plain why some pieces had very large open-
ings in the back, for although they were now in-
dependent figures, they were produced from
moulds originally used for decorating vases
(cat. no. 45).
*A childs grave from the Kerameikos in Athens
A group of figurines found in a childs grave
along the Sacred Way of the Kerameikos ceme-
tery is of particular interest for this develop-
ment (fig. 21). The first important aspect is the
iconography and function of the figurines. The
whole of the set was produced by one work-
shop, which, in view of the production attrib-
uted to it, is considered by Vierneisel-Schlrb as
the most important workshop for the period.
These figurines were purchased or commis-
sioned so that the child could be accompanied
in death by a number of protective divinities
(courotrophos carrying the child on her shoul-
ders, Apollo with kithara, priestesses and musi-
cians, Cybele, Pan and grotesques). The second
striking feature of the figurines is their chronol-
ogy; the grave contained a red-figure vase,
which can be dated to around 380-37011, and
which in consequence confirms that a number
of motifs clearly borrowed from plastic vases
were already employed for figurines during
this period. The woman dressed in a peplos and
holding a phiale for example is derived from a
plastic vase depicting a Nike, the iconography
of which was transformed for the figurine. gra figurines). The lampadion hairstyle of the
There are several known examples of this kind Nike (cat. no. 52) and the transparent effects of
of vase12. The faces were also taken from her garments (cat. nos. 44 to 47) copy the new
moulds normally used for plastic vases13 (see styles in female drapery being developed at
cat. nos. 48, 51, 52). Athens in the field of sculpture.
The most remarkable aspect is the ease with
which the craftsmen transformed and adapted The dancers: forerunners of the Tanagra
the moulds as required. The Nike was thus figurines?
changed into a priestess holding a phiale, an By developing various themes, including among
Aphrodite leaning on a pillar was transformed others the motif of the veiled dancer or man-
into a priestess of Cybele holding a tambourine, tle dancer, these workshops effected a transi-
and one example of the mantle dancers, tion towards the production of objects in the
whose sacred context was clearly indicated by round. The dancers - an iconography inherited
an altar, was given crotales (see below)14. from pottery - were depicted in various ways,
These vase makers not only transformed; they
were also capable of innovating15. Indeed, coro-
plastic workshops producing works in the so-
called Rich Style16 introduced a series of new
themes, which were sometimes taken from
iconography already used in pottery. For ex-
ample, the infant Dionysos, who was linked
with the Anthesteria, an Athenian festival dur-
ing which children were given their names, be-
came a recurrent motif (cat. no. 41), a fact which
probably explains the later series of children
shown bearing various attributes and seated
on altars (cat. nos.122-123). Another way of de-
veloping new themes was to mix different com-
binations; a Nike could be represented playing
at knuckle-bones17, while the same motif of a
knuckle-bone player18 was initially confused
with the motif of the flower gatherer, two
favourite themes for depicting the world of
young girls seen in an erotic framework (see
p.XXX function). As attested by other moulds
and figurines19, they led to a theme that was
much appreciated in the Hellenistic world (cat.
nos. 124-150).
Plastic vases rapidly became wider (cat. no. 42)
and higher20. A 27.3 cm high oinochoe, recently
discovered in the Kerameikos21, shows a Nike (?), Fig. 22
Plastic oinochoe, clay, ca. 400-375 B. C.
once winged, standing on a high round base (of
Ht. 17 cm.
the type that would later be used for pre-Tana- Compigne, Vivenel Museum, inv. 1996. 116.
 Fig. 23
Dancer, ca. 350 B.C., clay, Ht. 20.8 cm.,
L. of the base: 6.5 cm.
Thebes, Archaeological Museum, inv. 32455.
with or without a musical instrument, almost
completely veiled with only the eyes showing
(as for example on a plastic oinochoe from
Athens), or with nothing at all on their heads.
They first appeared at Athens in the first quar-
ter of the fourth century as figurine vases,
and were immediately widely diffused as fig-
urines21. Apart from the Athenian example, one
of the first figurines of this sort is an oinochoe
now in the Muse Vivenel at Compigne23 (fig.
22). Although the crossed feet and the upsweep
of the folds of the himation so characteristic of
mantle dancers (fig. 23) are close to the attitude
of the Titeux dancer (cat. no. 57), the ivy crown
suggests that the figure might also be a Maenad,
like those on red-figure vases, where Maenads
had indeed been frequently depicted as dancers.
The ambiguous iconography, combined in this
case with the findspot of the Titeux dancer, sug-
gests that the figurines might also have repre-
sented the Nymphs, who also belonged to the
Dionysiac world because of their connection
with Pan, a god much venerated in Attica. The
popularity of this theme in Boeotia, where the
cult of Dionysos was particularly fervent (along
with that of the two gods of the Kabeiron of
Thebes) makes this identification very tempting,
for these images would have been a way of
strengthening the role of Dionysos and his thi-
ase. Thus Maenads and veiled Nymphs might
well have been the prelude to what was to be-
come a recurrent theme of Tanagras, for there is
no doubt that some of the figurines produced at
Tanagra and Tarentum represent Maenads24.
They appear crowned with ivy leaves (cat. no.
207), sometimes carrying a tambourine (cat. no.
117), the double flute, or crotales, and at times
even brandishing a bunch of grapes, and are
occasionally shown seated on a rock that sym-
bolises the wild, natural world of the god who
can very exceptionally appear in the form of a
veiled Pan25 (cat. no. 116).
6 7
This interpretation should however be com-
bined with, or replaced by another one. The
figure of the veiled woman, immobile this time,
and often seated, was traditionally used to rep-
resent the young betrothed girl whose hus-
band would unveil her on their wedding day
using the anacalypsis gesture26. This type of
figure, frequently accompanied by Aphrodite,
is to be seen on numerous red-figure vases
from Attica or Italy (in particular on Lipari pot-
tery). The cloak worn as a veil would subse-
quently become the rule for married women Fig. 24
concerned to protect their virtue, and accord- Earrings, gold, Ht. 5.7 cm., Kalymnos (Sporades).
Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Antikensammlung,
ing to Heracleides (1, 18) and Plutarch, (Moralia, inv. MISC 10823 a and b.
232, c), it was apparently a highly esteemed
custom in Boeotia.
The veiled dancers possibly foreshadowed cer-
tain tendencies that would be displayed and
developed shortly afterwards by the Tanagra
figurines. With the exception of Athenian ex-
amples (?), the Tanagras seem to have had a fu-
nerary rather than a votive function. The su-
pernatural world they evoked turned mainly
around Dionysos, a god whose initiates were as-
sured of rebirth after death. But they could also
evoke female divinities, such as Artemis,
Aphrodite, and Demeter, deities who protected
children and future mothers, and in these cases
the offerings were specifically related to the
world of women, especially small girls, who,
having died before reaching the age of maturity
and before they could become wives and moth-
ers, were particularly inexperienced, and there-
fore frequently accompanied in death by
naked dolls27. These beliefs are synthesised -
this time in a precious material - in the rare ex-
ample of a pair of gold earrings dating from
the fourth-third century, found on the island of
Fig. 25 a-b
Kalymnos (Sporades) (fig. 24). Each earring rep-
Vases figurines: peplophoros, Ht.16 cm.
resents a Nike playing knucklebones, with a Young Macedonian wearing
the chlamys, Ht 13, 5 cm. Attic production,
doll suspended from one wing, and a veiled
Brussels, muses royaux dart et dhistoire,
dancer from the other. inv. A 892 and A 907.

Fig. 26 a et b
Two statuettes from a multiple burial tomb
at Vergina (Macedonia), 3rd quarter
of the 4th century B.C. (From AEMTh, 1990).
Fig. 27
Draped woman, ca. 340-320B.C., Ht. 23.2 cm, W. 8.4 cm,
Depth: 5.1 cm.
Paris, Muse du Louvre, inv. MNB 576.
8 9
Were the plastic vase workshops responsible
for the first Tanagra types?
It seems that the first motifs, that were inspired
by works of sculpture (especially the figure of
the Large Herculaneum Woman28), and that
would later develop into the Tanagras, were
initially produced in the form of figurine-
vases, and therefore in the same workshops
that produced vases. Several dozen standing
and seated draped women, and two (?) figures
of ephebes, discovered in the Sanctuary of the
Nymph, on the South Slope of the Acropolis29
are of great interest in this respect. These fig-
urines were used to decorate large loutrophori,
vases otherwise adorned with red-figure pal-
mettes. The edges of the figurines were smeared
with black glaze30 and then stuck onto the
surface of the vases as we can see on two ex-
amples now in Brussels (fig. 25-a-b).
In the third quarter of the fourth century these
figurine-vases constituted the connecting link
between the last expression of pottery and the
first Tanagra figurines in the real sense of that
term. Coroplasts rapidly separated the motifs,
which had been developed for the decoration of
plastic vases, from the vases themselves - now
no longer of any use - and set out to conquer the
third dimension, as the great bronze sculptor
Lysippus was doing in the same period31. As
suggested by Zervoudaki32, the new plastic
ways of decorating large clay vases such as
loutrophori were probably inspired by metal-
working, which might still have been important
in Athens during this period, and was certainly
very important in Macedonia. We know for ex-
ample that from the end of the fifth century on-
wards, bronze works and artists were imported
by the Macedonian court. Once again we have
a confirmation of the interconnections existing
between different craft categories during this
period, between the potters, painters, sculptors
and modellers (coroplasts), all working in the
same medium of clay33.
The first types of Tanagras and their
diffusion
The first Tanagras in the Greek world: Athens,
Corinth and Macedonia
During this period Macedonia began to play an
influential role in the political sphere and con-
sequently occupied an exceptional position,
something that was also to have important con-
sequences on the artistic level. The motifs and
new ideas that were developed at Athens and
Corinth, initially in the field of metal-working
and later in other areas, rapidly spread to Mace-
donia. Recent excavations in the region have
provided us with a few datings confirmed by
context, whereas in Athens and Tanagra little or
nothing is known about the contexts of finds,
for the reasons outlined above. Thanks to the
political and economic developments occur-
ring around the new capital of Pella, the city
was soon to become the new cultural and artis-
tic centre, one that would attract all the great-
est men of the time.
The particular influence of Athens in Macedo-
nia is illustrated by the astonishing presence in
this country of white-ground lekythoi34, the
only category of vases used exclusively for fu-
nerary purposes which ever travelled beyond
Attica (except for Euboea). The phenomenon is
also reflected on a more modest scale by terra-
cottas, which were imported alongside luxury
vessels in bronze, and then produced locally
very rapidly. Two Tanagras illustrate this point.
The first type (fig. 26 a), the Attic origin of which
is well attested (fig. 27)35, represents a draped
woman wrapped in a short coat with a hori-
zontal lower edge. It was discovered at Vergina
(the first Macedonian capital) in a partly pil-
laged cist-grave that had been used twice - for
the burial of a young girl, and two (?) little girls
belonging to the aristocracy of the neighbour-
ing city of Aigeai. At the beginning of the fourth
century some figures of actors had been de-
posited in the tomb, followed at the end of the
third quarter of the fourth century by a number
of Tanagra type figures, including this figurine.
The second type is different. This proves once
more that the first Tanagra types should be
dated to just before the last quarter of the cen-
tury, and it also confirms that the figurines be-
gan to circulate as soon as they were created. It
was in the same region, at Mieza36, that the cist-
grave of a little girl was discovered, dating to
the third quarter of the fourth century. The
grave contained rich funerary material, con-
sisting of 144 knucklebones, jewellery, 15 Attic
vases and 24 terracottas known to be of differ-
ent dates, since they were found alongside fifth
century protomes, a fourth century veiled
dancer and several Tanagras. The latter included
a standing draped woman holding part of her
himation in front of her chest (see cat. no. 191,
type D in the table, Appendices and p. XXX JB-
VJNM) (fig. 28), - a type that was also found in
Macedonian tombs at Pella and Phagres. This
particular type might well have been created
and developed in the second half of the fourth
century at Corinth, a city whose reputation was
based on its bronze work that was highly ap-
preciated in North Greece. It was inspired by
sculpture (to judge by the portrait of the orator
Hypereides) and was to continue over several
generations in the sanctuary of Demeter and
Core on the Acrocorinth up to 320, terminus
ante quem. The discovery of these draped
women in Macedonia suggests two possibili-
ties: first that the creation of the first Tanagras
at Athens undoubtedly goes back to shortly be-
fore 330 B.C., and secondly that Corinth proba-
bly played a role in the development of Tanagra
types, even if its influence still needs to be de-
fined more precisely37.
The case of Boeotia
Athens certainly had a special relationship with
Macedonia. But Boeotia, especially Thebes, and
Tanagra, a centre located next to Athens on
what was the almost obligatory route towards
the north, was also a leading importer of Attic
figurines, before it became itself a production
centre of prime importance. We know that after
the destruction of Thebes in 335, Tanagra suc-
ceeded in becoming the leading producing city
in the region. What is not so clear however, is
the exact process by which workshops were
able to produce probably the greatest number
of Tanagra figurines with an apparently
uniquely funerary function. The number and lo-
cation of these workshops are unknown, al- Fig. 28
though Pausanias indicated that they were lo- Statuette from a tomb at Miza (Macedonia),
3rd quarter of the 4th century B.C.
cated at Delion the port of Tanagra - and that (From AEMTh, 1990)
they continued to be numerous in the second
Fig. 29
century A.D. Cinerary urn, clay, Ht. 75 cm, Alexandria, Ibrahimieh
The case was not unique. The same phenome- necropolis.
Alexandria, Graeco-Roman Museum, inv. 7306.
non occurred at Alexandria after 33038, where
figurines have been found in tombs (see for ex-
ample the figurine used as the cover of a
cinerary urn, fig. 29), and also later at Taren-
tum39. It has however been possible to deter-
mine certain characteristics particular to the
Boeotian production. It would seem that the
Boeotians (Thebans and Tangrians) adopted
themes that had originated elsewhere, and re-
peated them again and again, almost to the
point of obsession - but with great talent. Ex-
amples of this are the bell-shaped female stat-
uettes (cat. no. 2) of the late eighth century,
and the horsemen, pappades and genre scenes
of the Archaic period. As for the Hellenistic pe-
riod, the clay has been subjected to prelimi-
nary physico-chemical analyses. Although these
analyses need to be further developed and val-
idated, they have already led to the identifica-
tion of one Theban, and some Tanagran groups
(p. XXX). If it were proved that the first Boeotian
types (cat. nos. 59, 95) were produced at Thebes
following the arrival of the first Attic figurines,
the accepted date of 335 as a terminus post
quem would need to be revised again. Either
 the first Tanagra types did in fact come from At-
tica before that date - and the recent discover-
ies in North Greece might well support such a
hypothesis - or craft activities did not com-
pletely stop when Thebes was totally or per-
haps only partially destroyed.
Trade networks
The quite extraordinary rapidity with which
the Tanagra figurines were diffused explains
why they were already in certain places, espe-
cially Macedonia, Eretria and Cumae, as early as
340-330, and on other sites around the Mediter-
ranean by the last third of the fourth century.
This rapid expansion was largely due to the ex-
istence of a network of trade routes set up long
ago by Athens and already used for the dissem-
ination of red-figure pottery. In fact the net-
work constitutes a veritable identity card of
the Greek world, and reveals how the Greek
way of life was diffused.
It is interesting to compare the different sites
where late fifth and early fourth century pot-
tery spread (particularly dense in the area of
North Greece up to Panticapaeum, a region that
exported cereals and especially wheat40 to
Athens, and where the so-called Kerch vases
were found), with those where Tanagra fig-
urines were discovered. The latter sites are gen-
erally the same as those also used for the inter-
mediary productions of Attic workshops ie.
figurines of actors and plastic vases41 as well as
the later dancers and pre-Tanagras42. It was over
the same trade routes, which had hardly
changed, that the latest Attic productions were
transported to different parts of the Greek
world almost as soon as they were created.
Some places used a number of different net-
works to import the new productions. The is-
land of Lesbos43 for example, which had politi-
cal and economic ties with Athens (Lesbos, like
the neighbouring island of Chios, exported its
wine to Athens), imported figurines from
Athens, which comprised at the very least, a se-
10
ries of figurines of standing and seated chil-
dren (the Cloaked Boys series) recently dis-
covered in a rich grave of a child44, and the pro-
totype of which was created at Athens45. But for
many years, Lesbos had also had a special rela-
tionship with Boeotia46, and on account of its
geographic position probably acted as a relay
for the Myrina workshops.
Similarly, it is likely that Crete, and particularly
Knossos (exhib. cat. Paris 2003, no. 208), imported
Attic pieces, and that the region of Chania in
western Crete imported Tanagra figurines (es-
pecially the Lady in Blue type) directly from
Boeotia, more specifically from Tanagra through
the port of Delion, an illustration of the strik-
ingly long and very close contact between the
two regions (cat. nos. 2, 91).
Once imported, the figurines were immediately
adopted and adapted. Workshops in Madeconia,
Cyrenaica, Egypt, Myrina, Italy and elsewhere
all received the same models that had been cre-
ated in Athens, and succeeded in taking them
over, and producing from them an extraordi-
nary variety of types, some more successful
than others, some with differences at times
barely noticeable. In this way the types were
continually reworked and exported from the
centres where they were created usually of
Greek origin out to more marginal centres.
Due to the repetitive process of moulding,
which continued for an exceptionally long
time, the figurines eventually became very dif-
ferent from the original creations. Figurine
types travelled from Macedonia to the Black
Sea, from Tarentum to the rest of Apulia, from
Cumae (as early as the last quarter of the fourth
century) and also from Paestum and Naples
(perhaps via Sicily, an island that early enjoyed
a very favourable relationship with Athens be-
cause of the wheat it supplied to the city) to
Campania and Etruria47, from the leading cen-
tres of Myrina, Pergamon and Alexandria in
East Greece out to the Lebanon and Iran48.
Finally, the synoptic table (see Appendices)
highlights a fundamental sociological phe-
nomenon: the Tanagra figurines, which have
been found in large numbers throughout the
ancient Greek world of the Mediterranean basin
- including Sicily, South and Central Italy, clearly
followed in the wake of Alexander the Greats
conquests towards the East (Babylon, Susa and
Ikaros). On the other hand, they do not seem to
have extended into the western Mediterranean
the regions of North Africa (except for Cyre-
naica which was a zone of Greek influence),
Spain49, Gaul and West Sicily, ie. those regions
where Rome had become the leading power
and influence. They acted as a vector for Greek
values as opposed to Roman values, and of cer-
tain technical aspects, including the use of the
two-piece mould (Canosa, Susa and Babylon).
As such they were imported by Greek expatri-
ates (for example at Alexandria) or by local pop-
ulations who wanted to adopt the Greek way of
life, and then in turn they became a new marker
of that life-style.
Can the Tanagra figurines explain the death of
Greek figured pottery, which came to an end for
no apparent reason? The reality is undoubtedly
more complex. However, it does seem clear that
the craftsmen and patrons of this new age no
longer wished to express the values previously
conveyed on vases through myth - the expres-
sion of Greek thought par excellence.
The very wide diffusion of the figurines, and
their immediate adoption and adaptation by
local workshops does indeed reflect the suc-
cess of the new formula; moreover, the great
majority were found in tombs and temples, and
cannot be dismissed as simple little trinkets50.
Myth, which had become too complex and was
no longer understood by the new Greeks, gave
way to the human figure, one represented with
greater simplicity as the distance from the
Greek epicentre increased, and one reflecting
the beliefs anyone wished to give them.
1. My particular thanks go to S. Descamps, D. Kassab Tezgr and
especially M. Denoyelle, whose comments and re-reading of this text
were particularly helpful. I am also much indebted to J.Becq, S.Ferret,
I. Hasselin-Rous and N. Mathieux who assisted me with the synoptic
table (see Appendices). We drew up the table by analysing as
systematically as possible many (though not all) excavation reports,
as well as those museum and exhibition catalogues where Tanagra
figurines are mentioned. Our aim was to obtain a table showing the
different discovery contexts of the figurines throughout the whole of
the ancient world, and one which also provided objective datings.
For the conclusions to be drawn from this table, see the chapter on
the function of Tanagra figurines, p.XXX. The title of this article is a
clear reference to the founding article by D. Burr-Thompson of 1966
on the Attic origin of Tanagras, in which the author formulated a
hypothesis first advanced by Knoblauch in 1939. The date of 330 B.C.
for the appearance of the style suggested by D. Burr-Thomson has
been revised in accordance with the earlier date proposed by Kleiner
(see also note 36).
2. See the table, Appendices. The example of Olynthos, although
problematic (see note 5), is the one most usually cited for figurines
found in a domestic context. My opinion however, is that they were
not used to decorate houses. It is possible that these figurines were
left in houses which were also used as workshops or shops, or that
they were figurines for the domestic cult (which could be conducted
by the father of a family) - a possibility suggested by the way they are
usually grouped together in one area and frequently associated with
protomes. The question probably needs to be considered from a
different angle for the end of the Hellenistic period, as for example at
Delos (Laumonier, 1956).
3. See the exhib. cat. Paris 2003, 1872: des Tanagras Paris pp. 34-65,
and in particular, E.Papet De lobjet archologique aux babioles de
luxe, pp. 36-45. Many Tanagra figurines were already in museums
before 1870; they came from South Italy, Cyrenaica, East Greece and
Athens, and in most cases were not recognised for what they were,
see Jeammet, 2007.
4. This style disappeared very early in Asia Minor, where it had failed
to really penetrate (exhib.cat. Paris 2003, Burn, pp. 260-263). At
Tarentum, on the contrary, the Tanagra fashion persisted through the
second century B.C. (see article by D.G.), such as the motifs of draped
woman, particularly in Italy: for example the type derived from the
Lady in Blue (cat. no. 91), as in the Temple of Minerva Medica at Rome,
or up to the first century A.D., that of the small boy wrapped in his
coat (exhib. cat. Paris, 2003, no. 163). These derived and degenerate
types are nothing but distant avatars of the Tanagra tradition.
5. The situation remains complex since, apart from several pre-
Tanagran types (Robertson, 1933, no. 18: draped woman taken from a
two-piece mould, and idem. 1952, nos.190, 259), Olynthos yielded few
Tanagra figurines (idem. 1952, nos.218, 489, 491, 492), the presence of
which might be due to the particularly early appearance here of the
motifs, before 348, or to the partial reoccupation of the site before it
was totally destroyed in 316; see Nicholls, 1995, p. 471. The destruction
of Thebes in 335 was previously considered as a key date, since no
Tanagra figurines had been found there. However, recent excavations
of the Thebes necropolis (cf. exhib.cat., Paris 2003, Bonnano-
Aravantinos, p. 188, who is due to publish all the figurines with
Pisani), have yielded a certain number of such figurines, and these
discoveries will undoubtedly change our understanding of the
question- although the figurines may have been produced after the
city was rebuilt in 315 (see also Charami, Kontouri, Vivliodetis, and
Charami, Jeammet, forthcoming). See also Lnnqvist, 1997, p. 152.
6. For the excavations carried out on the Agora, see the different
publications by D. Burr-Thompson, assembled by Thompson and Burr-
Thompson, 1987. For a summary, see Uhlenbrock, 1990/2, pp. 48-53.
New dates proposed by Rotroff, 1997: Coroplasts Dump: 350-315;
Hedgehog Well: 350-320; Demeter Cistern: 350-290. See also Miller,
1974, Nicholls, 1995. For these chronological issues, see also Kassab
Tezgr, 2007, p. 15. Copies have been found on the slopes of the Sacred
Rock, as well as on the Pnyx and the Kerameikos, see Lnnqvist, 1997,
pp. 153-154.
7. See Jeammet, forthcoming a.
8. Rolley, Les bronzes grecs, 1989, pp. 15-19 and Burr-Thompson, 1966,
Miller, 1974, Nicholls, 1995.
9. The accepted term (cf. Kleiner, 1942, pp. 9-14, as opposed to
Lnnqvist, p. 151) for a category of figurines that can be dated to
about 350 to 330 B.C. They have features which link them with earlier
figurines (especially the flat obverse with a big opening, the high
base, and the strands of hair on the shoulders features typical of
plastic vases, cf. infra) but which foreshadow the Tanagras (cat. nos.
48-56). For a clear definition, see Kassab-Tezgr, 2008, pp. 241-242.
10. Term borrowed from Reeder-Williams, 1974. For relief vases, see
Zervoudaki, 1968. See also Besques, 1978, and Jeammet, forthcoming, b.
11. Date proposed by Denoyelle, as opposed to the one suggested by
Verniesel-Schlrb (1997, nos. 139-145) and Nicholls, 1995, p. 470, ca. 400,
already questioned by Rolley, 1999, p. 225, fig. 221. The representation
of the head of Hermes (psychopomp ?) and the head of a woman
(Core ?) need to be related to the rest of the material. For the themes
treated, compare with tomb no. 4 at Blisnitza, Schwarzmaier, 2006
and Verniesel-Schlrb, 1997, no. 133.
12. Trumpf-Lyritzaki, 1969, plates 3- 4. As a figurine of the same series,
but without the phiale and belonging to a later generation, see
Vierneisel-Schlrb, 1997, no. 361.
13. Reeder-Williams, 1978, pl. 91, fig. 2. See also an identical face found
with other fragments of plastic vases in the Sanctuary of Aphrodite
Pandemos, below the bastion of Athena Nike on the Acropolis (BCH,
85, 1960, p. 607, fig. 11).
14. Vierneisel-Schlrb, 1997, no. 142; the same attitude for a dancer
found in tomb 72 (Amerikis) but with another head (exhib.cat. Athens,
2000, no. 229). For the type of head inherited from plastic vases (round
face, long hair reworked with a point), see also Leyenaar-Plaisier,
1979, no. 66, and exhib. cat. Hermitage Museum, 2007, fig. 61: Jeammet,
forthcoming b.
15. This phenomenon can be seen elsewhere. At Tarentum, the motif
of Hyakinthos, which appeared towards the end of the fourth
century (Lippolis, 1995, pp.56-58, pl. XV), was probably inherited from
a mould of an Attic plastic vase with Eros (Trumpf-Lyritzaki, pl. 4-5);
the figure was then used for particular religious needs. This
transformation probably occurred in the second half of the fourth
century, following a particularly active phase in Tarentums
importation of Attic plastic vases and relief vases. The Apulian city
stopped these imports in 350. This rupture in relations between
Tarentum and Athens may explain the late appearance of Tanagra
figurines in tombs of the very late fourth century, which, with one
exception, seem to be of local production (see p. D.G. footnote 9). The
same phenomenon occurred with the transformation of typically
Attic plastic vase-heads into heads in the round (a creation which
was apparently not followed up) at Olynthos and in Boeotia, the
findspot of a head which can probably be attributed to the Group of
the Lady in Blue (exhib. cat., Paris 2003, no. 94, see fig. 42 in this
catalogue and Jeammet, 2003 c), and possibly also a head now in the
Royal Library of Brussels.
16. Nicholls, 1995.
17. The Cave of the Nymphs at Penteli, Archaeological Museum of
Piraeus, 2001, no. 188
18. See one of the paintings in the no. 1 cist-tomb of Amphipolis, late
fourth century, Malama, 2007, p. 114, fig. 9. Lnnqvist, 1997, p. 164.
19. See an example at Athens, found in a fourth century tomb (AAA,
1973/6, fig. 18) with parallels at Olynthos (Robertson, 1952, nos. 251
and 254) following the form of the flower gatherer with one knee
bent; at Kerch (Peredolskaja, 1964, plates 16, 5); a fragment from a
mould found in the Kerameikos (Schne-Denkinger, 1993, pl. 37). The
form adopted for later knucklebone players shows the young girl
crouching (see also Robertson, no. 379, Vierneisel-Schlrb, 1997, no.
223 and pp. 70-71). For their meaning, see Trumpf-Lyritzaki, 1969, pp.
131-132 (the plastic vase FV 82, Louvre, is a fake) and Mandel, 1999, pp.
216 219; Lnnqvist, 1997, pp. 174-178.
20. Reeder-Williams, 1978, p. 363.
21. Exhib. cat. Athens, 2000, no. 444.
22. Oinochoe at the National Museum of Athens (Trumpf-Lyritzaki,
1969, FV 95); spread to Olynthos (dancers and aulos players, Robertson
1952, nos. 224-225 and pl 76), Corinth, Aegina, Boeotia, Lindos, The
Black Sea (as far as Koul-Oba), Cyrenaica, Italy, etc. see table
(Appendices).
23. Ht. 17 cm, inv. 1996.116; red and yellow polychromy and gilding;
Besques, 1979, p. 346, fig. 2.
24. Raftopoulou, 1991, p. 291; Graepler, 1997, pp. 205-212; exhib. cat.
Paris, 2003, nos. 222-226, earth-cut pit no.1 of the Via Tito Livio.
25. Compare with a draped woman seated on a rock, found at Chalcis
(Eretria), AAA, VII, 1974 (1), p. 31, fig. 6 also associated with a statuette
which seems to be a veiled female figurine.
26. The Myrina Group of the Muse du Louvre, Myr 268. For veiled
betrothed women, see Summerer, 1999, pp. 106-107 and Merker, 2000,
p. 153; for the Aphrodite identifications, see LIMC as well as Mandel,
1999, who reconciles the Aphrodisiac role with the funerary theme,
and the article by D.G. For the mantle dance, see Nicholls, 1995, pp.
450-451, and for the veil, Cairns, 2002, Gherchanoc, 2006.
27. Graepler has made a particular study of the presence of dolls in
tombs and their link with Aphrodite, 1997, pp.212-220, and essay infra.
For the dolls, see Schwarzmaier, 2006, who also mentions the pair of
earrings (fig. 4), and Papaiokonomou, 20xx. Recently an identical pair
of earrings was found in the tomb of a little girl in Kalymnos, see
Dreliousi-Irakleioudou, forthcoming.
28. Lnnqvist, 1997, pp. 159-160; Pasquier in exhib. cat. Paris, 2003,
pp. 153-158; idem. exhib. cat. Paris, 2006; Dewailly, 2007.
29. I am very grateful to Mme Mar Kyrkou for her kindness in
showing me the material in her charge. See PAE, 1957 pp. 23-26 and
BCH, 82, 1958, pp. 657-8. See also Reeder-Williams, 1978, p. 365 and
Jeammet, forthcoming b. The same technique for the modelled relief
(?) of a draped woman in the Kerameikos was noted by Vierneisel-
Schlrb 1997, no. 365, dated ca. 350 B.C., and this is probably how we
should interpret the strange convexity of the female inv. 12844 (cat.
no. 131 type) on the Acropolis (my thanks go to C. Vlassopoulou for
showing me these pieces in the Acropolis Museum and to N. Massar
in Brussels).
30. Black glaze is a clayey paste rich in potash and iron oxides,
which painters of Greek vases used in the decoration of their vases. It
turned black during the oxidizing-reducing firing process employed
for black and red figure vases. In a more diluted form, it could be
used to fix together the different parts of a piece; if it spread over the
edges when it was applied, it gave a bright red colour to the figurines
because they were fired only in oxydising conditions.
31. According to Burr-Thompson, 1984, the decree of Demetrios
Falireas in 317 concerning funerary luxury at Athens, which put an
end to funerary sculpture, might have led to an increase in the
production of small clay sculpture.
32. Zervoudaki, 1968, p. 76 cites the example of the Derveni crater. See
recently Barr-Sharar, 2008, especially p. 106.
33. Muller, 1999, in particular, pp. 282-285 ; Barr-Sharrar, 1990 and
Uhlenbrock, 1990/1, p. 15 as well as for the geographic proximity of
sculptors and coroplasts workshops on the Agora; Merker, 2000,
pp. 19, 341-343.
34. PAE, 1989.
35. See exhib. cat. Paris, 2003, no.131; for the origin of this type, see
Kassab Tezgr, 2008, pp.292-294.
36. AEM, 1990, p. 43, fig. 6 and p. 137, fig. 3. It is not specified whether
they were Attic or local types. For an early dating of the appearance
of the Tanagras, see Reeder-Williams, 1978, p. 373.
37. Merker, 2000, H 80 to H 98. In contrast to Merker, who believes that
Corinth played no role in the creation of Tanagran types, see cat. nos.
179-182 and the review of her book by Jeammet in RA, 2002/2 ; for the
relationship between Corinth and Tarentum, see article by D.G. and
cat. nos. 179-182.
38. Kassab Tezgr, 2008 and this catalogue, p. XXX.
39. Graepler, 1997 and this catalogue, p. XX.
40. Bouzek, 1989, pp. 249-259: also conducted a trade in leather, furs,
wood and slaves. For trade and economic problems, see Oliver 2007;
more generally on the Black Sea, see Gabrielsen Lund (edit), 2007.
41. See the founding article by Besques, 1978 on the production of the
workshop of plastic lecythoi.
42. For the spread of Attic pottery, see map by Villard, Grce classique,
Univers des Formes, 1969, fig. 435, Naples conference, 2000, and
Blond- Picon, 2000. For the other categories, see the Table in the
Appendices, as well as Zervoudaki, 1968, pp. 61-63, Trumpf-Lyritzaki,
1969, p. 10, and Domzalski, 2007.
43. See Acheilara in exhib. cat., Paris 2003, p. 254 and nos. 194-198.
44. ADelt 43 (1988) B2; in this case also it is difficult to know whether
the copies were Attic or local.
45. Exhib. cat. Paris, 2003, no. 162 and Burn-Higgins, 2001, no. 2011.
46. Fossey, 1994.
47. For Sicily, Malcom Bell III, 1993.
48. Perreault, 1986.
49. One exception found at Ibiza (see Appendices).
50. Vierneisel-Schlrb, 1997, pp. 113-114 and essay by D.G.
11
 The Lady in Blue
This statuette, majestic in size and volume, is
derived from one of the most popular statuary
motifs of the first Tanagra figurines1. Like the
Sophoclean Lady it was undoubtedly inspired
by sculpture, and the archetype is probably to
be found in a work by the great fourth century
Athenian sculptor Praxiteles. This statue is now
lost, but a Roman copy found at Herculaneum
and known as the Large Herculaneum
Woman, (fig. 39), might give an idea of the orig-
inal. Other contemporary reliefs and funerary
stelae (fig. 40) bear witness to the success of
this kind of clothing during the period.
We learn from contemporary accounts of its
discovery that the Lady in Blue, a particularly
remarkable figurine on account of its gold leaf
decoration, was found in a tomb alongside
three other examples of the same type. The ac-
counts also provide information on the exact
provenance of the ensemble: It was on this
route [from Chalcis via Aulis and the coast] to
the east of Laris, at 1 km from Tanagra, near the
Church of Haghios Ghiorghis, and in the vine-
yards of Skhimatariotes, that four large gilded
figurines were discovered, and divided be-
tween M. de Sabourof2 (sic) and the museums of
London3, Berlin4 (fig. 41) and Paris (Rayet, 1884,
writing on Lon Gambettas art collection). In
his entry on the Sabouroff Collection piece,
Furtwngler speaks of five statuettes from the
same tomb, the last of which belongs to the
Grau Collection5. Even if, as he points out, the
60
British Museum piece is very different from the
others (it is smaller, the tonality of the poly-
chromy is different, and there is no gilding), it
belongs to the same series as the Paris and
Berlin pieces. On the other hand, the pieces
from the Sabouroff and Grau Collections (fig.
42-43) in which the positioning of the arms is in-
verted and the stance is different, are derived
from another prototype. Moreover, the gilding
is different in these last two cases: instead of be-
ing used simply to emphasise the border, it cov-
ers a large part of the himation. The whole of
the production can be attributed to the same
workshop or group, which we shall call The
Lady in Blue Group, one characterised by the
use of similar moulds for all the faces, whereas
monumental prototypes of considerable tech-
nical quality were used for the bodies (even if
the back of this mould is somewhat roughly
modelled), and secondly by the meticulous re-
pair work. Finally a considerable amount of
gilding - normally limited to accessories - was
used for these figurines. The fact that the fig-
urines were found grouped together in the
same tomb suggest that they were commis-
sioned by a wealthy family. Another group of
three figurines recently discovered in a female
(?) chamber tomb dating to the late fourth cen-
tury at Chania in Crete can be attributed to this
Lady in Blue Group on account of the compa-
rable characteristics, ie. the similar faces, the
large size (about 30 cm high) and the traces of
gilding on the edge of the himation, which in
this case is red6. Thus, apart from the massive
diffusion of the transformed and re-elaborated
motif of the Large Herculaneum Woman
which continued throughout the Greek world
from its creation up to the first century B.C.7, the
export of part of the production of this Tanagra
workshop to Crete raises once again the phe-
nomenon of the circulation of these figurines
from Boeotia, as we have already seen for the
Mycenaean and Geometric periods (cat. no. 2). V. J.
1. It is one of the preferred types used for the decoration of
loutrophori in the Sanctuary of the Nymph, see VJ, p. X; for the
connection with Praxiteles, see Pasquier, exhib. cat. pp. 153-157 and
idem, 2007.
2. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Inv. 435A. Ht. 31cm.
Furtwaengler, 1883-1887, pl. XCIX. Belov, 1968. Khodza, 2005, p.48.
Gilded himation with a blue border, blue chiton with a white
rectangle (?), white shoes with red soles. Fan with gilded border.
3. London, British Museum. Burn-Higgins, 2001, no. 2074. H. 24, 2.
Rectangular vent. Preparation, pink cloak. In poor condition. Fan
missing. Piot Purchase, 1875.
4. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Antikensammlung, inv. TC 7674, H. 34.
Rhousopoulos-Hamburger Purchase (formerly in the Photiadis Bey
Collection), 1880. Same polychromy as for the Louvre figurine, but
with a deeper blue verging on violet, and traces of sky blue on the
left of the chiton. Red and white tholia. Exhib. cat. Paris, 2003, no. 133.
For the conditions in which work entered the Louvre, see Jeammet
2007, p. 39.
5. Now lost. Frhner, 1891, no. 336, pl. XXVIII. H. 32 cm. Himation
gilded and with a blue border, blue chiton with a white rectangle (?). Fig. 39 Fig. 41 Fig. 43
No fan. Same mould as for the Sabouroff piece (note. 9). Same
Roman replica known as the Large Herculaneum Woman, Lady in Blue, Lady in Blue Group, Tanagra, ca. 330-300B.C., Lady in Blue, Plate XXVIII of the sales catalogue of the
headgear as for the British Museum figurine, ie. the tegidion, which
when drawn across the face conceals all but the eyes. marble. Dresden, Albertinum Museum, inv. no. 326. clay, Ht. 34 cm. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Antikensamm- Grau Collection, 1891, no. 336 (localisation unknown).
6. Markoulaki, Niniou-Kindeli, 1982, pp. 7-118. lung, inv. TC 7674
7. The motif, even if much debased, continued to be used, eg. in the
Temple of Minerva Medica on the Esquilin in Rome (see Appendices, Fig. 40 Fig. 42
table 2). Funerary stele, marble. Lady in Blue Ht. 31 cm Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg,
National Archaeological Museum of Athens, inv. MNA 1005. Inv. 435A.
61