Myrina coroplastic works

A harbor city built on two hills named Beriki Tepe and Öteki Tepe, Myrina is located on the coast of Çandarlı Bay (Elaitikos) and at the mouth of Güzelhisar Stream (Koca Çay) in the north of Aliağa district of İzmir province. In the necropolis of the ancient city of Myrina, 4-5 thousand graves were opened by E. Pottier and S. Reinach, members of the French School of Athens, during excavations that included four seasons in 3 years between 1880-1882. More than 1,500 figurines and other grave offerings were recovered from these graves. Figurines are small three-dimensional artifacts depicting living beings and small people or animals that are easy to carry. The artist who produces works of art, especially statuettes, from clay, which is the main material of terracotta, which is baked clay, and of course many figurines, is called "coroplast". The works produced by the artist we call Corroplast and this production art are also called "corroplastic" and these small-sized corroplastic are the figurines we defined at the beginning. The figurines, which were used as gifts left in graves and in votive ceremonies, were made of materials such as terracotta, stone, wood and various metals. Since they are small in shape, they are easily portable and three-dimensional. It is also known that some figurines found were designed as toys. The fact that figurines are found in a wide range of areas from houses to sanctuaries, from necropolises to garbage dumps is associated with the easy availability and cheapness of the material from which they are made. This makes figurines easily accessible to a large number of people regardless of social class. For this reason, figurines are considered "common status objects" of the daily life of ancient art. The figurines recovered from Myrina were taken abroad and are now exhibited in various museums in Europe. In addition to the Pergamon Museum, Myrina figurines are exhibited in the Berlin Altes Museum, the Biritish Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Louvre Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Boston Museum of Art, and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. In this study, a general evaluation was made on all Myrina figurines available and their typological, contextual and iconographic characteristics were determined. Myrina figurines can be grouped under the headings of Aphrodite, Demeter, Eros, Nike, Eros-Aphrodite Groups, Satyr and Siren types, god/goddesses, actor with comedy mask, grotesque, slave types, women-child groups, vii multiple women, young girls and Ephebes, male-female groups, women with masks. The location of Myrina, the necropolis studies, and the preservation of the artifacts have been transferred to various museums, and it is seen that the typological characteristics of Myrina figurines are quite similar to Tanagra, and similar to the figurine productions of cities such as Kyme, Smyrna and Priene in Anatolia. It is known that Myrina coins were produced in the second half of the 3rd century BC and that the graves containing Myrina coins, usually dating to 190 BC, can have a precise chronology and that examples with workshop signatures are frequently recovered.