Long-celebrated as amongst the best examples of the artist’s playful and innovative approach, Picasso’s ceramics have undergone a crucial reassessment in recent years. Following a number of important exhibitions as well as series of critical studies, his ceramics have come to be understood as a key aspect of his wider artistic production. This has realigned his work in clay as an activity concurrent with his painting and sculpture and emphasized the important reciprocal links between them—in ceramics Picasso’s imagination was matched by the versatility of the medium. Picasso’s son Claude has vivid memories of the creative process involved in producing ceramics: “Working with the primal elements fire and earth must have appealed to him because of the almost magical results. Simple means, terrific effect. How ravishing to see colors sing after internal fires have given them life. The owls managed a wink now. The bulls seemed ready to bellow. The pigeons, still warm from the electric kiln, sat proudly brooding over their warm eggs. I touched them. They were alive really. The faces smiled. You could hear the band at the bullfight” (Claude Picasso, Picasso: Sculptor/Painter (exhibition catalogue), Tate Gallery, London, 1994, p. 223).

Tanagra, the namesake of this sculpture, was a Boetian town renowned for its terracotta production during ancient times. Tanagra figures were primarily naturalistic depictions of women and girls in quotidian dress and accessory, which were coated with bright pigments after firing (see fig. 1). Unlike other Greek terracotta sculpture, Tanagra figures were usually crafted with multi-part molds, allowing for more variety in output and realistic depictions in the round. After archaeological excavations in the nineteenth century brought a flood of Tanagra figures to the antiquities market, they have been admired by collectors and artists for their technical complexity and artistic elegance. Picasso's reference to this ancient center of ceramic production reveals his interest in the history of the medium, especially in civilizations situated around the Mediterranean.