In art, the word Terracotta (meaning ‘baked earth’) refers to sculpture, unglazed ceramic art objects or decorative architecture elements that are made from a coarse, porous clay which is versatile, cheap and durable. The clay is shaped or sculpted while soft and then fired so that it becomes hard and durable. In ancient times the clay was left in the sun, later it was baked in primitive ovens created in the ashes of open fires. Subsequently it was fired (at around 1000 degrees Centigrade) in specialized ovens called kilns. Once fired the clay has a brownish orange color that can range from earthy brown to dark red.
Unlike other ceramics, fired Terracotta is not watertight and a layer of glaze must be applied to the raw clay to achieve this. Terracotta objects were simpler and cheaper to create than using stone or bronze and moulds used in its production could be re-used making it even more practical. While it is often left unglazed, when applied glazes can give a wide range of different textures and colors to Terracotta objects.
The production of Terracotta sculpture goes back to Prehistory and examples have been found that are over 25,000 years old. These Palaeolithic Terracotta figures were fired in primitive kilns that were created beneath open fires. Examples have also been found in the Neolithic period and Bronze and Iron age artists also continued to use the technique. The Chinese also used the method and are responsible for one of the largest collections of Terracotta sculptures ever found: representations of hundreds of life size warriors in the tomb of an Emperor buried around 240BC.
In the Mediterranean region the Egyptian, Mycenaean, Etruscan, Minoan and Greek cultures all used Terracotta in the production of figurative works as well as various exampled of decorative art and architectural elements. It was widely used by artists during the Hellenistic period and by early Christian artists to create reliefs for burial tombs.
Terracotta was also used in African sub-Saharan sculpture with the first examples created by the relatively obscure Nok culture and the Igbo culture in Nigeria at around 1000 BC. Examples have also been found in Pre-Columbian art in South America from the Olmec culture.
After the collapse of the Roman empire the use of Terracotta declined significantly and was revived in the Early Renaissance when it was regarded as a proper artistic medium by artists of the time.
