Terracotta

This material, which is a baked clay, has always been used by sculptors for their less important works. Casts of statuettes are made in clay, which is then baked. The process has the advantage of being simple and inexpensive, and it is well adapted for the reproduction of small works. The most celebrated terracottas known are the Tanagra figures.

Literally 'baked earth' or 'baked clay'; fired clay which is incompletely fired and still porous. It is used to make artifacts such as vessels, figurines, tablets, spindle whorls, loom weights, or net sinkers. It is a material from which much ancient pottery and other fired clay objects were made. It is also found as a structural material in hearths and kilns, where the clay of which they were built has been baked in use. A special variety of terra-cotta called 'daub' was produced only by accidental burning. Today, the term is applied to statuary, building materials, etc. rather than the better fired modern pottery.