Greek moulds, either for statuettes or reliefs, are somewhat rare; but the British Museum contains a fair number from Tarentum of all kinds (see Plate [V].).[[406]] Those that we possess are mostly for small objects, such as figures of animals; but in the Museum collection there are several moulds for reliefs, as well as for vases of the later class with reliefs (see Chapters [XI.], [XXII].), such as the Calenian phialae with embossed designs.[[407]] Moulds employed for making stamps of various kinds are also in existence; at Naukratis Mr. Petrie found several circular “cake-stamps” with various designs. Of the moulds used by forgers or others for copying coins we have already spoken (p. [106]).[[408]]
The shrinkage of the clay as it dried afterwards permitted the figure to be withdrawn easily from the mould, and it was then ready for the necessary retouching. It is obvious from a glance at any collection of terracottas that there is a great similarity between the various representatives of any one type, and that actual or virtual repetitions are by no means uncommon. This was, of course, due to the fact that only a limited number of moulds were used, corresponding to the different types. At the same time there are in almost all cases minute differences which redeem them from a charge of monotony, and these were obtained in various ways: by varying the pose of the head or attaching the arms in different positions; by retouching before the baking; or by the addition of attributes and colouring. As it has been neatly put by M. Pottier,[[409]] “All the Tanagra figures are sisters, but few of them are twins.” But retouching is not invariable, and is, in fact, confined to the finer specimens, such as those of Tanagra. In the statuettes from the Cyrenaica and Southern Italy it is the exception. The difference which it effected may be well observed by comparing two statuettes of Eros in the British Museum from Myrina (C 535–36), which are from the same mould. They are identical in style and type, yet one is far superior to the other in artistic merit, just because of the greater finish of detail.
The process of baking required great care and attention; for if no allowance was made for the evaporation of moisture, or if too great a degree of temperature was reached, the result was bound to be disastrous. It does not appear that a very high temperature was reached, especially as compared with the pottery. The clay was further insured against too rapid drying by preliminary exposure to the air. A story told by Plutarch[[410]] of the fate which befell the chariot cast for the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol illustrates the possibility of disasters either from accident or carelessness. The clay swelled up to such a size and hardness that it could only be extracted by pulling the kiln to pieces.
The colouring of statuettes may be considered a fairly universal practice, although not always suggested by their present appearance. The earlier archaic specimens were not always, or only roughly, coloured, and those of the Roman period seem to have been often left plain; but otherwise it is the general rule. The surface on which the colours were applied was formed by a white slip or engobe of a creamy colour and consistency, with which the whole figure (except the back) was coated. This when dry becomes very flaky, and is liable to drop off, carrying the colours with it; most statuettes retain at least traces of this coating.
The method of painting is that known as in tempera, the pigments being opaque, mixed with some stiffening medium. The colouring was as a rule conventional, aiming at giving the figure a pleasing appearance, without any particular regard to nature. It was applied after the firing, as in that process the colours would have been liable to injury. The tints are what are known as body-colours, without any attempts at shading, and those usually employed are red, blue, yellow, and black, the white slip forming a ground throughout, and left untouched over the nude parts and often over the drapery; of these the favourites, especially for drapery, were blue and red, as also we learn from Lucian.[[411]] Pollux says it was a speciality of the κοροπλάθοι to colour their figures yellow, or with a golden tint.[[412]] The reds range in shade from scarlet to rose-colour and purple. At all times there was a tendency to treat the drapery in masses of colour, and this we see especially in the Tanagra figures, in which the chiton is almost invariably blue, the himation rose-pink. At a later date it became more customary to leave the drapery white, with borders and stripes only of colour. Black was only used for details of features, such as the eyes; green is very rare; and yellow was employed (in a deep brownish shade) for the hair, and also for jewellery, etc. The use of gilding is at all times rare in the statuettes; but some good examples are known—as, for instance, two archaic statuettes from the Polledrara tomb, and a head of Zeus, all in the British Museum.[[413]] Imitation jewellery in terracotta gilt is not at all uncommon. On many of the earlier figures from Cyprus the drapery is indicated by stripes of red and yellow laid directly on the clay, while animals are usually decorated with stripes of red and black; the method employed is the same as on the contemporary vases (p. [253]). Similarly, in the terracottas of the Mycenaean and Geometrical periods, such as those from Boeotia, the technique of the painted vases is closely followed, and the same decorative patterns are employed.
The use of an enamelled glaze first appears at Athens in the fourth century, and it is also occasionally found at Tanagra. The colour is uniformly a dull ashen-grey. A few examples are also known from the Cyrenaica, but it was in Sicily that the practice found most favour. There we find attempts to reproduce the colouring of the flesh by an enamel coating varying in hue from rose-pink to orange, and also grey and purple tints.
It is probable that the colours employed for painting terracottas were made from the same earths, though of a coarser kind, as the ware itself. Some information on the subject may be derived from Theophrastos, Vitruvius, and Dioskorides.[[414]] For white the artist used a white earth, such as Melos produces, and white lead; it is also said to have been produced from the burnt lees of wine, and from ivory. The reds were composed of a red earth, probably ochre from Sinope, and vermilion or minium. Yellow was obtained from Skyros and Lydia; and a yellow ochre was obtained by burning a red earth.[[415]] The Egyptian smalto or cobalt served for blue, and a copper solution prepared with alkali and silica was also employed. Copper green was obtained from many places, and mixed with white or black.
This may be a convenient point at which to speak of a class of vases which come rather under the heading of terracottas than that of painted pottery. They are found at Calvi, Canosa, Cumae, and other places in Southern Italy, and belong to the Hellenistic period, forming a parallel development to the glazed wares with reliefs of which we shall speak later (p. [497] ff.). They combine in a marked degree the characteristics of the vase and the statuette, some being vases with moulded reliefs or small figures in the round attached in different places, others again actual figures or colossal heads modelled in vase form by the addition of mouth, handle, and base (see Plate [VI].). They are usually of considerable—sometimes gigantic—size, and do not appear to have served any practical purpose; some, indeed, are only imitation vases with false bottoms. It is reasonable to suppose that they were manufactured for sepulchral purposes only, like the large painted kraters and amphorae of Apulia (p. [476]).