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Ruth Garrido Vila

Grapes, pomegranate and other fruits from a large cornucopia fragment. Very interesting object!

Smyrna, 3rd-ast century BC. 

MATERIAL: Terracotta.

DIMENSIONS: 9,5 cm height,  12,5 cm with the stand. 

CONDITION: Unrestored. 

PROVENANCE: 

-	From Smyrna, 1895-1905. 
-	Paul Gaudin collection (Paris 1858-1921 Versailles), archaeologist, engineer and major donor to the Louvre Museum; Acquired between 1894 and 1905 and by family descent. 
-	Public auction, France, 2022. 

About the collection:

The collection of terracotta fragments we are offering individually for sale, is composed of 670 pieces and seems to be the second largest, after that of the Louvre (1094 fragments) and ahead of those of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (135 fragments) and the British Museum (108 fragments).
According to Simone Besques (1972, p. 155): “There are hardly any public or private collections that do not contain Smyrna figurines, unfortunately mostly fragmentary. They nevertheless testify that there was there, from the 3rd century BC. AD to the 2nd c. apr. J.-C., the most important of the Hellenistic and Greco-Roman workshops, as much for the quality, the originality of this production as for the fact that these characters were maintained intact until the full Roman period. »

About Paul Gaudin:

Engineer and archaeologist Paul Gaudin (1858-1921) was one of the major patrons of the Louvre Museum, which he donated more than 2,100 artifacts to. The Istanbul Museum and other institutions also owe him a large part of their Asia Minor - especially Smyrna -antique collections.

As Isabelle Hasselin Rous, curator at the Louvre Museum, wrote: "[...] the archaeological collections of the museums of Istanbul and the Louvre share a common history, as the majority of their Smyrnian figurines were donated by Paul Gaudin between 1895 and 1904. Born in Paris in 1858, he was a railroad engineer at the Chemins de fer de la Compagnie de l'Ouest who was sent to Turkey in 1892. Gaudin was appointed COO of the Moudania-Brousse railroad line before moving to Smyrna in 1894, when he was promoted to the position of Director of the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Smyrne-Cassaba et prolongements and put in charge of the construction of the railroad extension line. He remained in Smyrna until 1905, at which time he was sent to Damascus for the construction of the Hedjaz Railway. He developed a passion for antiques and started building up a rich and varied collection of artifacts during his stay in Turkey, where he also directed archaeological excavations.

Gaudin obtained from Osman Hamdy-Bey the authorization to carry out excavations on two sites: the prehistoric site of the Yortan necropolis in Mysia (100 km east of Pergamon) in 1900-1901 and that of Aphrodisias, Caria in 1904-1905. He personally financed most of the excavations of Aphrodisias and carried them out on behalf of the Ottoman Imperial museums. Thanks to his close relationship with the antique dealers of Smyrna, he was able to build up a collection of Smyrnian figurines. At the end of the nineteenth century, as the population of the city of Smyrna was increasing rapidly, a construction surge in some areas of the city led to the discovery of hundreds of figurines emerging from the Smyrnian ground". (Hasselin Rous, Çaldiran Isik and Kongaz, 2015, pp. 4-5).

The artifacts presented here are exceptional in more ways than one. Not only do they illustrate the richness of Paul Gaudin's collections, they also attest to the pioneering excavations he conducted in Turkey.
 While several auctions have already been devoted to his important collection in the 20th century (in 1922, 1923, 1931 and 1974 - see the INHA website; Erim 1967, p. 236; Charloux 2001, p. 25), the present collection will most certainly be remembered for its importance for the history of archaeological research.


Smyrna terracotta figurines:

Smyrna was one of the original terracotta centres of Asia Minor. The town was refounded by Lysimachus, a general of Alexander the Great, around 288 BC, within a small distance from its old location. Smyrna reached its peak in the Imperial years. In fact, the continuous habitation until more recently made the conduct of systematic excavations impossible. Most figurines from Smyrna that are on display in the greatest museums of Europe and the United States – mostly fragments of heads.
The figurines of Smyrna are easily recognized by the colour of their clay, which varies from brown to red. The clay is fine and homogeneous, and contains scrapings of gold and silver.24 Some samples still preserve their colours. It is worth mentioning that the ventilation openings are tiny or absent overall. In general, the formation is very careful and the back side of the figurines is rarely left unprocessed, while very few signatures of terracotta artists survive.
As far as themes go, many popular types of the great terracotta art of the Classical or the Hellenistic period prevail, like those of Heracles, various deities and athletes. Another favourite theme was dressed female figures in the ‘Tanagrian’ type.
Handmade miniatures are also encountered, while the so called grotesque figures with exaggerated anatomical deformities are a special category. These puzzling figurines probably represented real people, who suffered from deforming diseases.
The terracotta style of Smyrna presents great similarities with that of Myrina. It is likely that the same terracotta artists worked in both towns, and perhaps used similar moulds. A relevant relation most likely existed in Pergamon and Cyme. On the other hand, certain thematic types of the Smyrna workshop – the black figures and grotesque figures – allude to the terracotta art of Alexandria, thus ensuring close commercial and artistic relations with that town. The figurines from Smyrna were highly appreciated in the ancient world. They were exported to Myrina, Priene, Pergamon, Troy, Tarsus, Delos, Athens, Cyprus and towns of the Black Sea.


Notes:

- The piece includes authenticity certificate.
- The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested, can take between 1-2 weeks maximum.
- The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.


3rd - 1st century B.C.

Ancient Greek Terracotta Fruits from a cornucopia. 3rd - 1st century B.C. Ex. The Gaudin Collection 1895-1905

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Archaeology

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Ancient Greek Terracotta Fruits from a cornucopia. 3rd - 1st century B.C. Ex. The Gaudin Collection 1895-1905

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Archaeology

This object is no longer available, but there’s still lots to explore

Ancient Greek Terracotta Fruits from a cornucopia. 3rd - 1st century B.C. Ex. The Gaudin Collection 1895-1905

Popular in Archaeology

1972 objects

Related collections