This 3D-printed Museum Replica reproduces a Mycenaean clay figurine of the so-called Phi-type, showing a woman holding a child in a highly stylised and abstract form. Based on a figurine type associated with Mycenae and dated to the 14th–13th century B.C.E., the object reflects the visual language of the Late Bronze Age, where simplified bodies, painted details, and repeated formal types carried ritual and symbolic meaning.
The figure belongs to a well-known group of Mycenaean female terracottas that include Phi-type, Tau-type, and Psi-type figurines, each named after the silhouette formed by the body and arms. In this example, the arms are arranged in the characteristic Phi-type manner across the chest, while the child is integrated into the upper body rather than treated as a fully separate figure. The form is deliberately schematic: the lower body is elongated, the upper body broadens outward, and the head is small and vertically extended. This abstraction is central to the historical character of the object and has been preserved in the replica.
Women with children in Mycenaean figurative art are often discussed in relation to care, fertility, childbirth, and family continuity. At the same time, such figures cannot be assigned a single fixed meaning. Depending on context, they may have functioned as votive offerings, representations of a divine or protective presence, or objects connected to household and sanctuary ritual. Finds of related figurines in graves, sanctuaries, and domestic settings show that this type was used across different parts of Mycenaean religious and social life.
The Phi-Type Female Figurine is available in the following materials:
- White nylon – polished for a smoother surface and offered as the most economical option.
- Black nylon – finished through a post-printing treatment and Color Touch process that improves resistance to scratching and rubbing, while providing a stable, uniform colour and consistent quality across production batches.
- Bronze – produced through a cast-metal process based on a 3D-printed wax master model, giving the object an elegant metallic appearance.
- Gold plated brass – made through the same casting process, combining precise reproduction with a refined decorative finish.
- White rhodium plated brass – cast from a 3D-printed master model and finished with a bright, elegant metallic surface.
Approximate original height: 11 cm / 4.33 in
More about the materials: https://www.sculpteo.com/en/materials/
Please note that objects too large for the production process in a given material may be produced at a reduced scale compared to the original.
