William Burton and Henry Beauchamp Walters

“ The effort of all terracotta makers during recent times has been to produce a building material capable of resisting the acids and soot contained in the atmosphere of our great towns. Technically many of the leading manufacturers in England and the continental countries have been very successful in this effort, as they are able to produce building materials of pleasant colour and texture which are practically acid-resisting. Critics of this modern development of terracotta as a building material frequently complain of the want of truth in the lines of cornices, door or window jambs, &c. ”

“ Here we have analmost unlimited variety of feminine figures illustrating the daily life of Greek women. In most cases the arms are more or less concealed by the mantle which is drawn closely across the figure, even covering the hands; but many hold a fan, a mirror, a Wreath, or a theatrical mask in one hand, while with the other they gather together the folds of their draperies. The long tunic or chiton and the mantle or himation, which all without exception wear, formed the typical dress of the Greek matron and girl ”

“ Sculpture.—T he subject of Greek sculpture in terracotta is a large one, and only its brief outlines can be given here. Of large or life-size statues comparatively few examples are known, and they can only be said to be common in Cyprus, where marble was difficult to procure; they are also more frequent in Italy, as will be seen later. But the use of clay for the reproduction of the human ngure was one of the earliest instincts of the race, and may be traced back as far as archaeological records exist, to the days of the Minoan and Aegean supremacies. ”

“ Much of the Florentine terracotta sculpture of the 15th century is among the most beautiful plastic work the world has ever seen, especially that by jacopo della Quercia, Donatello, and the sculptors of the next generation.1 For life, spirit, and realistic truth, combined with sculpturesque breadth, these pieces are masterpieces of invention and manipulation. ”

“ In the Cyrenaica on the north coast of Africa the influence of Tanagra is apparent, but the style is for the most part degenerate. The terraeottas of Tarentum stand apart from those of other sites, being markedly funereal in character; many represent Dionysos reclining at a banquet. Elsewhere in Southern Italy the types correspond to those of Sicily and other Mediterranean sites. Terracotta work in relief, apart from definitely architectural examples, is almost limited to two small classes, both belonging to the beginning of the 5th century. ”

“ The transformation wasquite a simple one, and it needed little change to convert a nursing goddess into a mother with her little one, or a Persephone holding a flower into a girl of Tanagra. The change in fact was artistic rather than religious; an evolution rather than a revolution. The figures were still placed in tombs and shrines, though the old associations were less strongly felt. In order to know what were the characteristics of the best Greek work in terracotta we must turn our attention to its most typical products, the Tanagra statuettes (Pl. II. fig. 4) . ”

“ Greek terracotta statuettes have been discovered in tombs, on the sites of sanctuaries, and in private houses. The tomb-finds are scattered all over the Mediterranean littoral, and the chief sites have already been noted; among the sanctuaries we may cite Olympia, the Acropolis at Athens, the temenos of Demeter at Knidos, the temples at Naukratis in the Egyptian Delta, many sites in Cyprus, and temples at Selinus in Sicily and Tarentum. The purposes for which these statuettes were used, (a) for religious rites, (b) in daily life, (c) in funeral ceremonies, have been the subject of much debate. ”

“ The present method of constructing buildings in reinforced concrete, faced with glazed or unglazed terracotta, will afford the architects of the 20th century an unrivalled opportunity for the use of this material. Collections.-The Louvre, British Museum, and the museums of Berlin and Athens have remarkably fine collections of the Greek and Roman terracotta, and many provincial museums, such as those of Florence, Perugia, Rome, Naples, Nimes and Arles, have also collections of importance. ”

“ Subjects and Types.-The earliest beginnings of the statuettes proper show, as might be expected in primitive Greek art, a very limited range of subjects. As in other materials, so also in clay, the female deity reigns supreme. The primitive Hellenic type of goddess adopts two forms, both derived from an original in wood, the board-form mu/is, and the column form xlwv or géavov, both of which we find also in sculpture. ”

“ The most famous name in the lists of these Italian artists is that of Girolamo della Robbia (see article DELLA ROBBIA) , who executed, in 1529, the enamelled terracotta for the decoration of the “ Petit Chateau de Madrid" in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, for Francis I.” Many other Italian artists of lesser repute imported their arts into France, and the British Museum possesses an embossed tile bearing the head of St John the Baptist, encircled by a Gothic inscription, which was evidently made at Lyons during the 16th century. ”

“ Greek moulds for statuettes are somewhat rare, but there are examples known from Kertch, Smyrna, Girgenti and Tarentum; the British Museum has a series from the last named site (Pl. I. ng. 3) . Most of these are for small figures only. The shrinkage of the claY as it dried permitted the figure to be drawn easily from the mould, and the reproduction was then ready for retouch in . It is obvious, from a glance at any collection of terracotta, that there is a great similarity between the various examples of any one type, and that many are virtually, if not actually, replicas of one another. ”

“ Roman Sculpture in Terracotta.-Frequent allusions in classical writers indicate that the ancient statues of the Romanswere mostly of terracotta, and Pliny notes that even in his day statuettes of clay were still preferred for temples. There are also references to signa fctilia placed on pediments of buildings such as the Capitoline temple. As noted in the previous section, during the greater part of the Republic, Rome was indebted for these to Etruscan artists, but the style of the figures was probabl more Greek than Etruscan. ”

“ Gilding is rare but was frequently employed in later times for terracotta imitations of jewelry. In the primitive terraeottas and those of Cyprus or other centres which adhered to primitive methods, the decoration is in stripes of matt black and red paint applied in a conventional manner to human figures and animals alike. True glazes or 'enamels are occasionally found, as for instance in the later terraeottas of Sicily, where they are employed both for drapery and for flesh colours. ”

“ Numerous theories have been advancegon this subject, some authorities having maintained that their meaning was exclusively religious or mythological, that they originally corresponded to the Egyptian ushabti, and that these religious types were afterwards adopted for ordinary human figures symbolizing the life of the deceased beyond the tomb. The gradual change in popular taste from figures of deities to figures of a genre type is unquestionably a feature of the development of this branch of art, but that the development was affected by religious ideas is more open to doubt. ”

“ The subjects cover a very wide field. Many are no doubt inspired by well-known works of art;= others are closely related to the “ New Attic” types, including dancing and frenzied maenads or the seasons. Others again, reflecting the spirit of the time, reproduce Egyptian landscapes. Scenes from the circus or arena, or quasi-historical subjects, such as triumphs over barbarians, again illustrate favourite themes of Roman Imperial art. ”

“ At some times the Tanagra types are repeated here, as, with varying artistic success, in other parts of the Mediterraneanlittoral. Though no other Greek site has produced terraeottas of such artistic merit as the two just discussed, there are others where the art enjoyed great popularity, either for a comparatively brief period or through the whole histor of Greek art. Some of these centres of manufacture have alreadly received mention or at least allusion, but we may briefiy call attention to a few others. ”

“ Being almost always feminine it seems probable that these are not images of the deceased, but the Chthonian goddesses Demeter and Persephone, playing in the tombs the role of protectress against evil influences. We may also mention here the little figures of animals, women and children variously occupied, and jointed dolls (veupbwrazn-a) which can only have served the purpose of children's toys. ”

“ It also supplied the 'potter with moulds and the sculptor with models of works of art, especially in bronze. Use in Archileciure.-In architecture terracotta was extensively employed for roof tiles and other decorative details, as has been shown by many recent discoveries, especially at Olympia. In the Heraion we have the oldest example of a terracotta roof. A 6th-century temple at Thermon in Acarnania is also constructed of wood and terracotta, with painted terracotta slabs in wooden frames for metopes. ”

“ Few statues of any size in this material now exist, but there is an interesting series in the British Museum, found in a well near Porta Lati-na at Rome in 1767, restored by Nollekens, and acquired by Charles Towneley. Some terracotta hgures of considerable size were found at Pompeii, having formed the cult-statues of a temple; others were employed for adorning gardens, like the series from Rome just mentioned. Terracotta figures were also employed as architectural members of the caryatid type. ”