Tanagra Figurines: Ancient Greek Terracotta Art and Funerary Rites

The Enduring Charm of Tanagra Figurines

Once an obscure name, the ancient Boeotian city of Tanagra became famous after 1873 for the discovery of a multitude of terracotta figurines in its tombs. These statuettes, depicting elegant women, youths, and children in familiar poses, captivated archaeologists and the public alike, surpassing the popularity of older Saxon porcelain. This article delves into the complex question of their purpose. Found in graves, these charming figures replaced earlier, more symbolic idols, but their worldly appearance raises questions about the evolution of funerary rites and religious beliefs in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.

The name Tanagra, once known only to the most learned scholars, has in recent years become cherished by all who are interested in the study of ancient Greece and drawn to any manifestation of beauty. This newfound renown is owed not to the ancient Boeotian city itself, but to a small population of terracotta figurines unearthed there, which are as curious to study as they are delightful to behold.

The Rediscovery of a Lost World

Barely twenty years ago, one had to be a very learned scholar to know the name—and only the name—of Tanagra. Dictionaries of ancient history and geography said little more than this: "Tanagra, a city in Boeotia, homeland of the poetess Corinna." It was a city of no great prestige, of which only remnants of walls remained, and the homeland of a poetess of no great renown, of whom only fragments of verses survive. One could very legitimately be ignorant of such a place.¹

However, Tanagra also turned out to be the homeland of a small population of terracotta figurines, curious to study and ravishing to look at, which made their unexpected entrance into the world around the year 1873. Because of these figures, the name Tanagra, almost unknown the day before, became dear among the dearest to those interested in the study of ancient Greece, as well as to those attracted by any manifestation of beauty.

Soon, its fame spread beyond the circle of archaeologists, artists, and collectors, even captivating the frivolous public. For these terracottas, destined to take their place—and one of the finest places—in the display cases of our museums and in archaeological publications, were promised an even greater favor. Fashion was to elevate them among the small objects of luxury and art, the indispensable elegances of drawing rooms and boudoirs, where they dealt a cruel blow to the old-fashioned Saxon statuettes beloved by our grandmothers.

Head of a Tanagra figurine-MDR Marseille-IMG 5194

A Traveler's Glimpse of Ancient Tanagra

Greece from the Coming of the Hellenes to AD. 14, page 265, Tanagra figurines

Notes

¹ I hope that this article will not be judged too unworthy of those that have already been published on the same subject in this same collection. It has not been forgotten that it is the *Gazette des Beaux-Arts* that has contributed most to spreading in France, from the day after the discoveries at Tanagra, the knowledge and taste for Tanagran art, thanks above all to the collaboration of the late Olivier Rayet, to whose science and talent I am happy to be able to pay a distant tribute here. ↑

² These fragments of the work of Heracleides, *Περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι πόλεων* (On the Cities in Greece), were, until recently, attributed to Dicaearchus of Messana. ↑

³ I add here an indication provided by Pausanias (IX, 22). ↑

⁴ I assume that everyone is familiar with, in addition to Rayet's articles, the work of M. Heuzey, the publications of M. Cartault, and the recently published book by M. Ed. Pottier, in the *Bibliothèque de l'Enseignement des Beaux-Arts*. ↑

⁵ In modern Greece, when one asks the reason for this or that popular custom, one often gets no other answer than this: "Ἔτσι ἔκαμαν οἱ πατέρες μᾶς" (our fathers did it that way). This answer, which teaches nothing, is nevertheless very characteristic; it is the modern Greek equivalent of the formula so frequent in the religious decrees of ancient cities: κατὰ τὰ πάτρια (according to the custom of the ancestors). There is no lack of examples of the persistence of certain rites, funerary or otherwise, even though their exact meaning is forgotten by the very people who carefully preserve the tradition.

One can well believe that it was so in Tanagra in the 4th century for the terracotta figurines offered to the dead. A curious person of that time, who had inquired about the reason for this offering, would undoubtedly have had to be content with the answer I have just given: "Thus did our fathers." ↑

⁶ This quotation, which is not strictly verbatim, is borrowed from a lecture *On the origins of the terracotta industry*, given by M. Heuzey at the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (November 17, 1882) and reproduced in the *Chronique des Arts*, nos. 1, 3, and 9 of 1883. See also the *Atlas des Figurines antiques du Louvre*, page 16 and Preface. ↑

⁷ Rayet thought the same (see his *Études d'archéologie et d'art*, page 301). ↑

⁸ All the more so in the 3rd century, if, as has been said and as is possible, the majority of the Tanagra terracottas must be dated down to this century. ↑

The Enduring Charm of Tanagra Figurines

The Rediscovery of a Lost World

A Traveler's Glimpse of Ancient Tanagra

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