Terracotta Statuette of a Woman in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Statuette of a woman, 3rd century B.C.
Greek, probably Boeotian
Terracotta; H. 7 3/4 in. (19.6 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1907 (07.286.2)

Tanagra figurines were brightly colored with water-soluble paints. Still visible on this statuette of a woman draped in a himation is the red pigment used for her hair, which is styled in the melon coiffure with rows of twisted strands of hair. Black pigment originally marked her eyebrows, eyes, and other details, and her flesh would have been painted a pale orange pink. Still evident on the surface of her drapery are the original white slip and traces of blue pigment, an expensive paint applied only sparingly on Tanagra figurines.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tafg/ho_07.286.2.htm