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Statuette of Artemis
Greek
Archaic Period
about 530–520 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Laconia
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Height: 19.2 cm (7 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number98.658
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Greek, Etruscan, & Roman Bronzes (MFA), no. 019; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 118 (additional published references).
DescriptionArtemis stands like a miniature cult figure, on top of a three-stepped base. She is dressed in a sleeveless peplos of Laconian (the area around Sparta) fashion that is belted at the waist, with its skirt arranged to appear straight in the front with the fullness gathered into seven pleats across the back. Its bodice is distinguished by a short overfall (apoptygma). Appropriately for her appearance in the aspect of a young maiden, Artemis' hair is dressed in twelve long, crimped locks, three on either side of her face, curving forward from behind her ears and draping over her bodice, while six more spread over her back. Across her forehead, a short fringe ends in curls. A double twisted fillet encircles her head, holding the coiffure in place. Around her neck, she wears a thick choker with a central pendant of a type often found among Laconian bronzes. Her feet, placed side by side on the plinth, are shod in plain yoke-type sandals with layered soles.
The left hand, raised before the figure, holds the remains of a bow (cast together with the hand) - an attribute that identifies the goddess of the hunt. A second hole just behind the bow, now empty, probably held an arrow. The right hand, more tentatively extended, is lower and closer to the body; although only part of it is preserved, enough remains to show that this hand was drilled to hold some attribute, which in this case may have been the legs of a small animal, the huntress' unfortunate quarry. The right side of the skirt front carries an inscription in carefully incised Laconian letters ΨΙΜΑΡΙΔΑΣΤΑΙΔΑΙΔΑΛΕΑΙ "Chimaridas [dedicated this] to [Artemis] Daidaleia." (Description from M. True in The God's Delight", cat. no. 4). Attached to MT.ANC.70.
The left hand, raised before the figure, holds the remains of a bow (cast together with the hand) - an attribute that identifies the goddess of the hunt. A second hole just behind the bow, now empty, probably held an arrow. The right hand, more tentatively extended, is lower and closer to the body; although only part of it is preserved, enough remains to show that this hand was drilled to hold some attribute, which in this case may have been the legs of a small animal, the huntress' unfortunate quarry. The right side of the skirt front carries an inscription in carefully incised Laconian letters ΨΙΜΑΡΙΔΑΣΤΑΙΔΑΙΔΑΛΕΑΙ "Chimaridas [dedicated this] to [Artemis] Daidaleia." (Description from M. True in The God's Delight", cat. no. 4). Attached to MT.ANC.70.
Inscriptions"Chimaridas [dedicated this] to [Artemis] Daidaleia" (on skirt)
ΧΙΜΑΡΙDΑΣΤΑΙDΑΛΕΙΑΙ
Σ in retrograde
ΧΙΜΑΡΙDΑΣΤΑΙDΑΛΕΙΑΙ
Σ in retrograde
Provenance1897, said to have been found at Mazi near Olympia, Greece [see note 1] and acquired by Count Michal Tyszkiewicz (b. 1828-d. 1897), Rome; June 8-10, 1898, Tyszkiewicz sale, Rollin and Feuardent, Drouot, Paris, lot 139 to Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860- d. 1928), London [see note 2]; 1898, sold by E. P. Warren to the MFA for $69,618.13 [see note 3]. (Accession date: September 20, 1898)
Notes:
[1] W. Froehner, Collection d’antiquités du Comte Michel Tyszkiewicz (1898), p. 51.
[2] W. T. Ready bought the statuette for 20,500 francs, probably on behalf of E. P. Warren (A. Snitkuviene, Birzu Grafai Tiskeviciai ir ju Palikimas (2008), p. 215, no. 637).
[3] This figure is the total price for MFA 98.641-98.940.
Notes:
[1] W. Froehner, Collection d’antiquités du Comte Michel Tyszkiewicz (1898), p. 51.
[2] W. T. Ready bought the statuette for 20,500 francs, probably on behalf of E. P. Warren (A. Snitkuviene, Birzu Grafai Tiskeviciai ir ju Palikimas (2008), p. 215, no. 637).
[3] This figure is the total price for MFA 98.641-98.940.