Crouching Woman Playing Knucklebones

The woman kneels to her right, but turns her wreathed head frontally, making her position appear awkward and precarious. She is positioned on a rectangular base and would have been part of a group. She is playing an ancient form of jacks, known as "astragalus" (knucklebones), a game in which five small animal bones were tossed into the air and caught on the back of the hand. The grouping of separate statuettes is almost unknown before Hellenistic times, when artists became fascinated both by the interaction of figures and by the challenge of representing complex poses, such as this crouching stance.

Although generally referred to as Tanagra figurines after the most famous findspot, Tanagra (modern Schimatari) in Boeotia, Greece, statuettes of this type have been found at other sites in the ancient world, including Myrina and Smyrna (modern Izmir) in Asia Minor. The most common forms of the statuettes depict young women sitting, standing, or in the process of graceful movement, but there are also examples showing men or children. The statuettes were used as grave offerings, votives, decorative objects, and perhaps toys. The hair, clothing, skin, and jewelry of the pieces were originally painted, although most of the colors are presently faded.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Joseph Brummer Gallery, New York, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.