the.com/figurine
A tiny frozen actor, immortalized mid-pose for a play that never ends.
means A figurine is a small statuette, usually of a person, animal, or character, made for display or collection.
from From the Italian 'figurina,' a diminutive of 'figura' (figure, shape), which descends from the Latin 'figura' — itself rooted in 'fingere,' to form, shape, or mold (the same source that gives us 'fiction' and 'effigy'). The word arrived in English in the 19th century, carrying that built-in 'little' in its very bones: not a figure, but a wee one.
- ancient origin
- Venus figurines date back over 30,000 years
- market boom
- Collectible figures fuel a multi-billion-dollar global industry
- material range
- Carved from bone, jade, porcelain, resin, even chocolate
- grave goods
- Egyptians buried shabti figurines to do afterlife labor
- scale obsession
- Hobbyists fight wars over 1:6 versus 1:12 sizing
for instance
venus of willendorf — limestone statuette from austria, 29,000 years old, 4.3 inches tall
terra cotta army — 8,000 life-sized warrior figurines buried near xi'an china, 210 bce