Les figurines de Tarse. Partie III. Étude matérielle et analyses physico-chimiques

Abstract

The material study of about twenty figurines from Tarsus concerns the characterization of the terracotta support and the analysis of the polychromy. The clay paste, rich in calcium, is homogeneous within the corpus; its analysis is sometimes polluted by the presence of an enigmatic gypseous “mortar”. On the contrary, the polychromy is marked by a rich palette of materials : ground layer with Huntite, pigments (Egyptian blue, green earth, Mimetite, Red lead, …), colorant (madder) and metallic leaf ; and by diversified implementations. These data establish the basis for a thought about potential workshop criteria.

Keywords

• Polychromy
• Terracotta
• “Mortar”
• Ground Layer
• Pigment