TERRACOTTA STATUETTE OF DEMETER, 3RD CENTURY B.C.
Terracotta statuette of Demeter represented holding a pig and a torch.
The pork is the animal sacrificed to Demeter, her sacred animal, used in purification rituals.
In the Orphic tradition, Eubouleus is a swineherd, who with the help of his brother Triptolemus, helps Demeter to find her daughter, Persephone, after her abduction by Hades. The quest to find Persephone is depicted on a mural of a tomb of Panticapaeum and on a Roman denarius where she is depicted holding a flaming torch accompanied by a pig who walks beside her.
The mystical sacrifice of the pig was one of the important rituals of the preparatory part and the public Eleusinian Mysteries dedicated to Demeter and her daughter.The associated figurines, carrying the torch and the piglet, represent more the humans taking part to the rituals rather than the two deities.
Greek art, 3rd century B.C.
Comes with a TL test.
Height : 8.3 inches (21 cm)
Condition: Very good condition.
Reglued from several fragments.
Price: € 1,200
