Woman with Pitcher and Bowl
c. 450 BCE
Description
Standing with the weight shifted to one leg and the other slightly advanced, this woman holds a pitcher in her proper right hand and a shallow bowl (a phiale mesomphalos, with a central “navel” or boss) in her left. These attributes indicate that she is about to pour a libation, most likely at an altar in a sanctuary or domestic setting. She is dressed in a peplos, a one-piece woolen garment pinned at the shoulders and belted at the waist. Her hair is covered by a bonnet. The figure stands on a base and is tilted toward the back. Of reddish-brown terracotta with remains of a white slip, it is hollow throughout, with a large rectangular vent hole at back. It was likely made in Attica or neighboring Boeotia. In its current state, the statuette is reassembled from several fragments.
Dimensions
H. 33.5 × W. 7.7 × D. 9.5 cm (13 3/16 × 3 1/16 × 3 3/4 in.)
Provenance
Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin [1], Paris, (by 1890-1911), sold; to William A. Clark [2], New York, (by 1911-1925), bequest; to Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., (1926-2018) [3], transferred; to American University Museum, Washington, D.C., (2018-2021), sold; [through Sands of Time, Washington, D.C.]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2022. 1. Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (1850-1916) 2. William Andrews Clark (1839-1925) 3. Following the closure of the Corcoran Gallery in 2014, its collections were physically transferred to the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.); the Corcoran Board of Trustees retained ownership until the collections were officially transferred to and accessioned into other museums’ collections (in 2018, in this case).
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