HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.

During the Hellenistic period, the quality and style of terracotta develops, making way for larger and more varied figures with different poses, using separately attached limbs. The smooth surfaces of the stumps of arms and neck of this example, however, indicate that limbs were never attached to the torso. Therefore, it must be a prototype that served as a positive for the making of a mould. By the end of the Hellenistic period, the Greek coroplastic tradition seems to have begun declining, most probably due to the rising availability of cheap bronze.