Figurine

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Figurine

For the indie band, see Figurine (band)
Figurine (band)

Figurine is an electronica Band based in the USA. The band members, friends since high school, are somewhat secretive about their identities, using the pseudonyms David Figurine, James Figurine and Meredith Figurine and not releasing any band photos....

A figurine (a diminutive form of the word figure
Figure

Figure may refer to:*A shape, drawing, or representation*Figure 8*A person's Human physical appearance*Figurine of something**Action figure, in arts...
) is a statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a Bust , and at least close to life-size, or larger....
tte that represents a human

Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
, deity

Deity

A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
, or animal

Animal

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Statue

Human

Deity

A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
, or animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay. Modern versions are made of ceramic, metal, glass, wood and plastic.

Figurines and miniatures are sometimes used in board game

Board game

File:Game_of_life_board.jpgA board game is a game in which counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" . As do other form of entertainment, board games can represent nearly any subject....
s, such as chess

Chess

Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two Player . Sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from History of chess and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older...
, and tabletop role playing games. Figures with movable parts, allowing limbs to be posed, are more likely to be called doll

Doll

A doll is an object that represents a baby or other human being, but includes likenesses of animals and imaginary creatures. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood, bone, cloth and paper, to porcelain, china, rubber and plastic....
s, mannequins, or action figure

Action figure

An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon a film, comic book, video game, or television program....
s; or robot

Robot

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an Electromechanics which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has Intention or Agency of its own....
s or automata

Automata

Automata may refer to* Automata theory, in theoretical computer science, the study of abstract machines* The plural form of Automaton, a self-operating machine....
, if they can move on their own.

Old figurines have been used to discount some historical theories, such as the origins of chess.

Porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and ....
is considered the finest of materials for figurines and other ceramics. There are many early examples from China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
where it originated, which drove the experimentation in Europe to replicate the process. The first European porcelain figurines, produced in a process mastered in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
were known as Meissen ware

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and ....
after the city where it began. Soon the technique was copied in other cities, such as the one depicted to the right from Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Germany Federal Free state of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon triangle metropolitan area....
.

Genre figurines of gallant scenes, beggars or figurines of saints are carved from pinewood in Val Gardena, Bolzano-Bozen (Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
), since the 17th century.

The terms inaction figures (originally used to describe Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith

Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter and film director, as well as a script writer, author, and actor. He is also the co-founder, with Scott Mosier, of View Askew Productions and owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey, New Jersey....
's View Askew figurines) and staction figures (a portmanteau of statue

Statue

Four Horsemen Studios

Four Horsemen Studios is a group of four action figure sculptors who formerly worked for McFarlane Toys, and whose work has included the new 2002 line of Masters of the Universe toys and the current DCSH and DC Universe Classics lines....
artists to describe Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel. Among List of Masters of the Universe characters, it features the fictional characters of He-Man and Skeletor on planet Eternia....
figures) have been used to refer to figurines of comic book

Comic book

A comic book is a magazine or book of narrative artwork and dialog and descriptive prose. The style was introduced in 1934. Despite the term, comic books do not necessarily feature humorous subject-matter; in fact, it is often serious and action-oriented....
or sci-fi/fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of Plot , Theme , and/or Setting . Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three ....
characters without movable parts.

Prehistory

In China, there are extant Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
figurines. Prehistoric figurines of pregnant women are called Venus figurines

Venus figurines

Venus figurines is an umbrella term for a number of prehistory statuettes of women sharing common attributes from the Aurignacian or Gravettian period of the upper Palaeolithic, found from Western Europe to Siberia....
, because of their presumed representation of a female goddess, or some connection to fertility. The two oldest known examples are made of stone, were found in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, and are several hundred thousand years old. Many made of fired clay have been found in Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
that date to 25-30,000 BC, and are the oldest ceramic

Ceramic

File:Bridge from dental porcelain.jpgFile:Qing vase p1070256.jpgA ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetal solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling....
s known.

In Minoan

Minoan civilization

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 27th century BC to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greece culture became dominant at Minoan sites in Crete....
Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
terracotta figurines manifesting facial detail have been recovered from the Iron Age

Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
strata.

These early figurines are among the first signs of human culture

Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
. One cannot know in some cases how they were used. They probably had religious

Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
or ceremonial

Ceremony

A ceremony is an activity, infused with ritual significance, performed on a special occasion....
significance and may have been used in many types of ritual

Ritual

A ritual is a set of repeated actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions....
s. Many are found in burials. Some may have been worn as jewelry or intended to amuse children.

Today, figurines can encompass modern action figures, Bobbleheads, and all kinds of memorabilia.

Figurine

Prehistory

See also

External links