Getty Museum

Statuette of a Girl

Date

about 300 B.C.

Medium

Wood

Culture

Greek

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Many objects in antiquity were made of wood, but it is a highly perishable material and not many of these have survived to our time. In this rare example of a wooden statuette, a girl appears to be jumping up, her hands clasped against her knees. Her body is carved fully in three dimensions. The sculptor has given her a hairstyle of a cap of incised rows of short curls. The curve of the girl's budding breasts, her waist, and the swelling of her hips are skillfully carved. The feet, unfortunately, are broken off and missing. Jumping poses were part of ancient dances, and girls were taught to dance so that they could join all-female choruses to perform at religious rituals and festivals. Along the statuette's right side is a hole that could be used to surround a support. This suggests that the figure was part of a larger group of objects and was likely an offering to the gods, rather than a toy.

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