HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 300-250 B.C.

This large and impressive mold-made terracotta figure depicts a goddess, likely Persephone or Aphrodite. She stands leaning on a pillar with both arms projecting forward, once holding attributes, now lost, either pomegranates if Persephone or apples if Aphrodite. The goddess wears a peplos and a himation, and her head is surmounted by a high polos or kalathos. The figure was once coated with a white slip and was further enhanced by the addition of other colors, including blue, pink and purple. A related example but without the polos is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 1981.389.