Cheramyes' Kore with hare, torso from back left

Cheramyes' Kore with hare, detail of edge of himation with inscription

Cheramyes' Kore with hare, torso from right

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Cheramyes' Kore (ca. 560 B.C.) from the Sanctuary of Hera, Samos: det...

Cheramyes' Kore with hare, view from back left

Cheramyes' Kore with hare, legs from left

Collection: Berlin, Antikenmuseen
Title: Cheramyes' Kore with Hare
Context: From Samos, Sanctuary of Hera
Findspot: Found at Samos, Heraion
Summary: Draped, standing female figure holding a hare
Object Function: Votive
Material: Marble
Sculpture Type: Free-standing statue: kore
Category: Separated fragments
Style: High Archaic
Technique: In-the-round
Original or Copy: Original
Date: ca. 575 BC - ca. 550 BC
Dimensions: H. with plinth 1.67 m, H. plinth 0.07 m
Scale: Life-size
Region: Sporades
Period: High Archaic


Subject Description: A female figure stands in a frontal pose, with both legs together, and her right arms by her side. With her left hand, which she holds in front of her chest, she holds a small hare. The woman represented wears a medium-sleeved, belted chiton, with a long overfold, an Ionic chiton draped diagonally over her right shoulder, and an epiblema, or shawl, hanging down her back and tucked into the belt on her right side. The long toes of her bare feet emerge from beneath arched openings in the hem of her chiton.

Condition: Nearly complete

Condition Description: The statue and round plinth were worked from a single piece of marble, of which most is still preserved. The head is missing, and the surface is heavily weathered.

Material Description: Grayish-white marble

Inscription: Along the vertical edge of the epiblema: *X*H*R*A*M*U*E*S *M*A*N*E*Q*H*K*E *Q*H*I *P*E*R*I*K*A*L*L*E*S *A*G*A*L*M*A, "Cheramyes dedicated me to the goddess, a beautiful offering."

Other Notes: The statue is thought to have been an offering to Aphrodite, as the woman clutches a hare--an animal associated with lovers in antiquity--to her chest.

Sources Used: Pedley 1976, 47; Freyer-Schauenburg 1974, 27-31 no. 7, pls. 7-8 (with additional bibliography); Richter 1968, 46 no. 56, figs. 186-89; Blümel 1964, no. 34

Other Bibliography: Buschor 1934-61, IV, 67, V, 83f.