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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Standing Kore
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Standing Kore

Artist/Maker (Artist Unknown)
Dateca. 525-500 BCE
Mediumpottery
DimensionsOverall: 14 1/8 x 4 3/8 x 4 1/8 in. (35.9 x 11.1 x 10.5 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Terms
    Object number89.0033
    DescriptionThis figurine is an excellently preserved example of a common object in ancient Greek culture. Made of fired clay, the image of a kore, or girl, would have been purchased by simple people who could not afford an expensive gift to offer to their goddess. Because the mold was reusable, the figurine was inexpensive. A worshipper would have carried the figure to the sanctuary of a deity and deposited it, most probably on a table, before the cult statue. As a votive gift, this figure could never leave the sacred grounds (the temenos), which, it was believed, belonged to the god or goddess. The pious believer either hoped for something in return through prayer or gave the object in thanksgiving for a benefit already received. The design represents a small copy of a much larger, white marble original such as those placed on the grounds outside the temple by wealthy individuals and families. Over two hundred of these marble figures are known from the 6th century BCE. The clay kore represents the art of the people, "the masses" of the time. The Ionian, or eastern Greek, aesthetic is to maximize surface beauty, as is readily evident here in the headdress, the braided hair, the smile, and the elaborate drapery. The object held in the figure's right hand, the honorable hand, is probably meant to be a pomegranate, a gift within a gift, timelessly offered by the statuette. Animals as well as fruit were common gifts. The figure is not a portrait but an imagined, ideally beautiful Greek creation, a perfection rather than a reality.
    On View
    On view
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Leagros Group
    ca. 575-500 BCE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Classic Veracruz
    ca. 600-800
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    19th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    ca. 1500
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Bamana people
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Maya (archaeological culture)
    ca. 600-900
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Chancay
    1200-1450
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    late 2nd to early 3rd century