Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
01.C.48d |
Object Name |
Figurine |
Title |
Maltese Figure of a Woman |
Artist |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Malta |
Date |
before 1838 |
Description |
This small statuette of a Maltese “peasant” woman is molded of off-white clay. The figure wears dainty shoes and an ankle-length dress with a fringed hem, belted waist, and fitted bodice; tied around the figure’s neck is a scarf with decorative edging. The figure wears drop earrings. Her hair is pulled back beneath a ghonnella (or Faldetta), a form of head dress or shawl unique to the islands of Malta and Gozo. The upper portion of the figure’s body and the base of the statuette are soiled with dust. Tool marks are visible in the clay body, especially beneath the hem of the woman’s dress and on the underside of the base. Some abrasions are present at the apex of the figure’s head dress. No maker’s marks or other identifying inscriptions are visible. |
Label |
William Winthrop Andrews donated this statuette to the APS in November of 1838. Winthrop served as the U.S. consul to Malta, a pair of Mediterranean islands that were then part of the British Empire, from 1834 until his death in 1869. While in Malta, he was named a knight commander of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. According to APS records, this statuette (along with three similar figurines) was “Cut from Malta stone, taken from ‘St. Paul’s Cave,’ at Citta Vecchia.” This could refer to “Saint Paul’s Grotto,” a cave beneath Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Citta Vecchia (now called Mdina), the old Maltese capital. A more likely possibility for its origin is the “Catacombs of St. Paul,” a labyrinthine system of subterranean tombs, dating from the third century C.E., where Saint Paul is said to have preached. These catacombs, which house some of Malta’s earliest archaeological remains, were popular destinations for researchers and tourists in the 19th century. This sculpture may have been created for the tourist trade. It resembles the ancient terracotta “Tanagra” tomb figurines, depicting people in everyday dress, that were unearthed in central Greece in the second half of the century. |
Material |
Stone |
Dimensions |
H-7.5 W-2.75 D-1.5 inches |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of William Winthrop Andrews, 2 November 1838. |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century sculpture women archaeology Greek |