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Bas Relief Bookends
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From
Persephone's Sanctuary 5th Century B.C.
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Bas Relief Bookends
ICGR 3
Dimensions:
21cm
x 17cm (8.3in x 6.7in)
Material:
Terracotta,
wood, plexiglass
Packaging: Jute bag with storycard
Price:
€ 94.00
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Inspiration for these bookends was taken from a group of ritual offerings
called 'Pinakes', square or rectangular bas reliefs in terracotta used as
offerings and placed on the sanctuary walls of the divinity to which they
were dedicated. These votive tablets constitute one of the major artistic
expressions of that area of the Italian peninsula colonized
by the ancient Greeks, better known as Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). The
'pinakes' were produced in the first half of the 5th century BC and were
originally brightly painted.
In this case, the relief was decorated with scenes related to the myth of
Persephone and her cult at the Mannella sanctuary outside the city walls of
the Greek city of Locri, found on the eastern coast of present day Calabria.
The plaques have mostly been found in fragments, like those produced here
as bookends, because the fragility of these plaques as well as the ritual
practice of smashing them, makes it rare to find one intact. The original
fragments are housed in the National Museum in Reggio Calabria, in southern
Italy.
These terracotta bookends are produced by the sculptor, Sergio Valeri, in
his workshop in Umbria, Italy for Made in Museum. Bookend structure
designed in Venice, Italy by the design team 'A70'.
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Female Votive Statue
Terracotta from Umbria
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Female Votive Statue
ICGR 2
Dimensions:
37cm
x 23cm (14.6in x 9.1in)
Material:
Terracotta
Packaging: Jute bag with storycard
Price:
€ 132.00
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The
seated deity portrayed in this statue was drawn from a terracotta votive
offering found near the ancient Greek city of Medma (today's Rosarno) in
Southern Italy. Similar statues were often used by Greek worshippers in
the area of the Italian peninsula settled by the ancient Greeks and known
as Magna Graecia or Greater Greece. They served as offerings in temples or
on small altars in homes, and were usually made of less precious materials
like clay, rather than marble.
The original statue is housed in the National Archeology Museum of Reggio
Calabria in Southern Italy. It represents a goddess holding a patera in
one hand (a bowl-shaped item used during ceremonial sacrifices to the gods
and symbolizing an offering) and a dove with spread wings. The figure is
seated on a throne with a back decorated with projecting palmettes and
resting on paw-like supports. The presence of the dove indicates that the
statue is probably a representation of the Greek goddess Aphrodite,
although it does not exclude an identification with Hera or Persephone or
other Greek divinities also associated with this bird. Her face is
animated by a slight smile that is typical of Archaic art and she wears a
'chiton' robe with tight parallel pleats under a robe.
The statue is made in the region of Umbria in Central Italy, an area known
for its clay (terracotta) production. They are produced utilizing a
combination of techniques and processes that 'age' the terracotta, thereby
reproducing the natural play of light and colour that occur in terracotta
of the classical period.
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