Votive Reliefs in the Acropolis Museum

The Terra-cotta reliefs which form the subject of the present article have been for some years one of the minor attractions of the Acropolis Museum, and I am indebted for permission to publish them to the kindness of the Ephor General M. Cavvadias, and of the Ephors, MM. Staïs and Castriotis. The latter as superintendent of the Museum most obligingly put at my disposal all the information in his possession and afforded me every facility for photographing the tablets. No single tablet in the collection is perfect and of the 73 fragments which comprise it, the great majority came to light during the systematic excavations of the Acropolis which were carried on from 1885–1890; they were all found at some depth below the surface and as far as could be learnt, to the north, the east and the south-east of the Parthenon. The rest have been in the Museum since 1863; these were all found on or near the surface and it is possible that others were carried away by visitors and are now hidden in private collections. The publication of the Museum fragments may lead to their identification and the completion of some of the tablets whose design cannot at present be determined.