Tanagra Terra-cottas
the golden age, descended in its selection of
subjects to the familiarities of every-day life,
and occupied itself with the amenities of the
age in which its makers lived.
It was not long before the source of the supply
was discovered, and to everybody’s surprise it
proved to be Bceotia, a province whose inhabit-
ants had not hitherto been remarkable for
originality in many matters.
It was near the hamlet of Skimatari, and on
the site of ancient Tanagra, that these interesting
objects were literally run to ground. Of Tanagra
itself little remains, and most that we know of it
NO. 6.—A YOUNG WOMAN WALKING
{Ionides Collection)
TANAGRA
NO. 7-—THE GAME OF EITIEDRISMOS
(Ionides Collection)
ASIA MINOR
is that it was a pleasant town, where the wine was
good, the inhabitants honest and hospitable, the
cock-fighting the best in Greece, and the women
beautiful, not only in figure, but in the stateliness
and rhythm of their movements.
It was from cemeteries extending along the main
road from Athens to Chalkis that the spade awoke
from their sleep of centuries the assemblage of
elegant and coquettish figurines which had only to
be seen to be appreciated at a very high figure by
the museums and the connoisseurs of every country.
Mr. Ionides being on the spot at the time was for-
tunate in securing his collection almost at first hand.
In Attica, curiously enough, very few were found,
but at the places I have mentioned on the shores
of the Mediterranean searches made in the burial-
grounds led to remarkable results. In one or two
101
the golden age, descended in its selection of
subjects to the familiarities of every-day life,
and occupied itself with the amenities of the
age in which its makers lived.
It was not long before the source of the supply
was discovered, and to everybody’s surprise it
proved to be Bceotia, a province whose inhabit-
ants had not hitherto been remarkable for
originality in many matters.
It was near the hamlet of Skimatari, and on
the site of ancient Tanagra, that these interesting
objects were literally run to ground. Of Tanagra
itself little remains, and most that we know of it
NO. 6.—A YOUNG WOMAN WALKING
{Ionides Collection)
TANAGRA
NO. 7-—THE GAME OF EITIEDRISMOS
(Ionides Collection)
ASIA MINOR
is that it was a pleasant town, where the wine was
good, the inhabitants honest and hospitable, the
cock-fighting the best in Greece, and the women
beautiful, not only in figure, but in the stateliness
and rhythm of their movements.
It was from cemeteries extending along the main
road from Athens to Chalkis that the spade awoke
from their sleep of centuries the assemblage of
elegant and coquettish figurines which had only to
be seen to be appreciated at a very high figure by
the museums and the connoisseurs of every country.
Mr. Ionides being on the spot at the time was for-
tunate in securing his collection almost at first hand.
In Attica, curiously enough, very few were found,
but at the places I have mentioned on the shores
of the Mediterranean searches made in the burial-
grounds led to remarkable results. In one or two
101