Greek Terracotta Figural Plaque
4th-3rd century B.C. Comprising two acephalic nude figures: the female shown from behind with rounded buttocks and a voluminous garment draped over her shoulders; the male figure shown frontally with his weight on his left leg, leaning against the female, left hand resting on his hip; mounted on a custom-made display stand. Cf. for similar but not identical couple in terracotta in Sporn, K., ‘Hellenistic Terracotta Figurines from Syme Viannou’ in ?????????? ??? IA? ???????? ???????????? ?????????, ????????, 20-27 ????????? 2011, ????? ? 2.2 ????? ????????????. ????? – ??????? ????????? – ?????? ????????????. ???? ??????????? ???????. ?????????? – ????? – ????????????, Rethymnon, 2018, pp.125-136, fig.6. 197 grams, 10.3 cm high (344 grams total, 15 cm high including stand) (4 in. (6 in.)).

Ex French Sorbonne archaeology professor (deceased); 1960s-2000s.

The couple represented here could be a depiction of Eros and Psyche. Terracotta ?gurines of these divinities are quite common in Hellenistic Asia Minor, the Black Sea, the Near East, with examples from Amisos, Ephesos, Priene and possibly Smyrna, but also in the Cyrenaica and in Sicily. In mainland Greece there are a few examples of related types from Beroia and Pella. However, not all the ?gurines of couples depict Eros and Psyche. Different types are known from other areas of Greece in the late Hellenistic period, on Crete there are close parallels from the Idaean cave.