Terracotta Figurines
Clay is a material frequently used for the making of votive statuettes or idols, since well before Minoan civilization until the Hellenistic era and beyond. During the 8th century BCE, in Boeotia, one finds manufactured "Bell Idols", female statuettes with mobile legs: the head, small compared to the remainder of the body, is perched at the end of a long neck, while the body is very full, in the shape of bell. At the beginning of 8th century BCE, tombs known as "hero's" receive hundreds, even thousands of small figurines, with rudimentary figuration, generally representing characters with the raised arms, i.e. gods in apotheosis.
In later periods the terracotta figurines lose their religious nature, representing from then on characters from everyday life. With 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, a type known as Tanagra figurines shows a refined art. Tanagra figurines often preserve extensive traces of surface paint. At the same time, cities like Alexandria, Smyrna or Tarsus produced an abundance of grotesque figurines, representing individuals with deformed members, eyes bulging and contorting themselves. Such figurines were also made from bronze.
For painted architectural terracottas, see below, under "painting"...
Read more about this topic: Ancient Greek Art, Figurines