CATALOGUE

  FEMALE TERRACOTTA
 SEATED WITH A CHILD.
                     MOTHER-GODDESS
DEMETER-LIKE 
Necropolis of La Albufereta (Alicante)

Ceramic made with univalve mould
h: 21 cm; w: 11.3 cm; e: 7.5 cm
Iberian
4th century BC

 

Terracotta depicting a seated female figure. She wears a veil that surrounds her from behind in such a way that the back of the figure appears to be a throne. The figure is leaning towards the child she is holding in her arms, whom she has just been breast-feeding. The child, embraced by the mother on her lap, leans her head back while raising her left arm to her breast. The facial features are schematic and not very well defined; the breasts are very pronounced. The posterior area is flat and has a hole in the centre about 3 cm in diameter, perhaps for hanging the piece. In the chest area there is a rust stain that may be due to the contact of this piece with another metal one in the tomb where it was deposited. The throne follows Hellenistic models but with a local interpretation. It has traces of white slip.
This terracotta was found in the "Great Burial" (L-127-A), a tumulus with several burials. The material found includes a series of terracottas with clear Punic overtones. Maternal female figures holding a child in their arms, or curotrophs, are associated throughout the Mediterranean with nurturing divinities such as Demeter, goddess of the Greek pantheon, protector of cultivated land and wheat.
C.S.: 3710
LAFUENTE VIDAL, J., 1934.
RUBIO GOMIS, F., 1986.
LLOBREGAT, E.A., 1972.
MARÍN CEBALLOS, M.C., 1987.