History of Tanagra

This is an example of a Tanagra figurine. These terracotta statues were produced in the 4th century 3rd to B.C. and largely came from the ancient Greek town of Tanagra, hence the name. They usually depicted women in everyday clothes, who were carrying accessories like fans or hats. They were commonly 8-9 inches high, and would often be copies of statues that might appear in a town square. Since theses were faithful reproductions of life size statues, the "funny hats" were actually pigeon shields which were meant to protect the statue. They were a very early example of mass production. They were sometimes buried with the deceased, but that was not the main objective of having one. They were usually just decorative in nature.