Terracottas of Neolithic period are all hand-made and rough. In
Crete, though the figures can be dated earlier than 2000 B.C.
are very few, they became very common between 2000 and 1550.
They were found from sanctuaries and sometimes from tombs. The
figurines are hand-made and gaily coloured, though it seldom survive.
Some figures are well proportioned, such as a male figure from
a mountain-top sanctuary at Petsofa, he only wears a sheath, a
belt and a dagger. Generally, Cretan Terracottas are the poor
to be art, if compared with the faience figurines.
The sixteenth and fifteenth centuries are poorly represented
by surviving terracottas in Greece and Crete. After the fourteenth
century, the production of statuettes was started in Mycenae by
the potters who made the vase. They have no resemblance whatever
to the contemporary statuettes of bronze or ivory. The typical
figurine is the standing female figure with the conical long skirt,
a flat body and a crown-like spreading head dress.
There are three varieties in this "Mycenean dolly".
Oldest is called phi-type(fig.1), since the
shape resembles to Greek alphabet "phi". Next comes
tau-type(fig.2), with folded arms. Finally,
psi-type(fig.3) raise her arms. All of them
are hand-made and painted by the brown glaze used for vase-painting.
Other than these figurines, many terracottas represented the
chariot or animals were produced. It is difficult to define the
purpose of these statuettes, for these were found from sanctuaries,
tombs or private houses.
The production of terracotta figure see the decline after the
fall of Mycenean civilization. In the ninth century, some pottery
workshops in Athens or Boeotia produced terracottas, mainly animal
figures. The body was made on the wheel and hand made head and
limb were joined, then painted by the same way as painted pottery.
However, the quantity of the production is still small.
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