TERRACE. 145 TERRA COTTA. process may be repeated several times, giving rise to a sueeession of terraces of which the oldest have the highest elevation and are farthest re- moved from the river. The drift terraces so com- mon in the Northern States are remnants of flood plains that were formed when the overloaded streams of the Glacial period filled their pre- glacial valleys. Lake terraces mark former shore lines and are evidence of a shrinkage in the volume of the lakes. They are well marked around most of the Great Lakes, also on the shores of Lake Champlain and the lakes of the Great Basin. Their aljundance has suggested the "term 'Terrace epoch' to designate the geological period during which they were produced. See Beaches, Raised; Lake; Eivek; Lake Agassiz; •etc. TERRACINA, ter'ra-che'na. A city in the Province of Uome, Italy, 76 miles southeast of the city of Kome, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, and at the southern end of the Pontine Marshes (Map: Italy, H G). The ancient city occupied a commanding position on the crest of a hill overlooking the modern site. This section aflfords a magnificent view and has interesting remains of the Roman period, notably those of the im- posing Temple of Venus, which until 1894 were supposed to belong to a palace of Theodoric the Ostrogoth. The Cathedral San Cesareo in the modern city, occupying the site of another Roman temple, is of much architectural beauty. Popu- lation, in UlOl, 11,310. Tcrracina, the Volscian Anxtir and the Latin Tarracinn, was of consid- erable military importance under the Romans. TERRA COTTA (It., baked earth). Hard- fireil eartlicnware. especiall}' that which is used for architectural material. Greece. Terra cotta statuettes are one of the most common products of ancient art. They are foimd in considerable numbers in Egypt, from the earliest periods, though often here the clay is covered by a vitreous glaze forming the so-called Egyptian porcelain. Such figures are among the most charming and dainty products of Greek art. The archaic terra cottas are numerous, especially on sacred sites. The later figurines from the fourtli century B.C. and the Hellenistic period have been found in tombs at many sites, but the earlier group is best represented by the statuettes from Tanagra in Beeotia, which are strongly in- fluenced by the art of Praxiteles and his contem- poraries. In the later period the characteristics of Hellenistic art are seen in terra cottas from Asia Minor (especially Myrina), Sicily, and Southern Italy. The attractiveness of these fig- ures has led to many imitations, which frequently are so skillful that only the expert can detect "their origin. The ancient figures were made in molds, sometimes as many as 10 being employed for a single fi.sjure ; then after baking they were often retouched or engraved, and finally painted in brilliant colors on a coating of white lime. For architecture the pieces were finished in true ceramic painting, simple Init of great excellence. In Central Italy, especially in Etruria and La- bium, crude brick seems to have been largely em- ployed, and hence terra cotta was used for decorative purposes in important buildings at a time when in Greek lands it had been largely supplanted by stone. In this region also terra cotta seems to have been used much more exten- sively for large figures than among the Greeks. Middle Ages and Rexaiss.xce. Throughout the Middle Ages, baked clay was used in archi- tecture, chielly for floor tiles, but also for roof- crestings and ornamental tinials. In the great plain of North Germany, where stone was rare and fictile clay abundant, a whole school of Gothic architecture in brick grew u]) in the four- teenth century and continued for two hundred years : and the decorative reliefs modeled in clay and used as capitals, friezes, and the like, are of singular interest. Elaborate decorative gables and parapets were made of this material and baked so hard that they are terra cotta rather than brick. In Italy, at the time of the Early Renaissance, the material is used very freely in elaborate detail in churches and in private dwell- ings. The Renaissance artists used this material freely for sculpture, even for life-size busts, though rarely for statues. (See Robhia, Della.) Another epoch of art during which terra cotta was freely employed was of the eighteenth cen- tury, when, especially in France, terra cotta stat- uettes and groups were made in great abundance, and vases, clocks, and the like decorated by reliefs and figures in the round were made for decorative effect. The most famous masters of this art were three sculptors of the name of Adam (Lambert Sigisbert, and his brothers Nicholas Sebastien and Francois Gaspard), and especially Claude Jlichel, commonly known as Clodion. NixETEEXTH CENTURY. In the nineteenth cen- tury the use of terra cotta as a building material was resumed in connection with the Gothic re- vival and the increasing demand for decorative detail. Toward the close of the century some slight attem]its were made to introduce poly- chromy of a permanent kind in connection with this material. Some of the best terra cotta for buildings is made in the LInited States ; and here also color has been sparingly used. Among its advantages as a building material are the ease with which it may be molded to any desired architectural or sculptural form and Indefinitely rejieated, its durability, lightness, strength, and cheapness. It may be made in almost any de- sired color. JIani tacture. a better grade of clay is re- quired for terra cotta than for brick. Oftentimes clays from difl'erent localities must be mixed to secure the right color, while such vitrifying in- gredients as pure white sand, old pottery or fire brick finely ground, and burned clay, are added to secure partial vitrification. After weathering, the selected clay is ground or washed (see Clat, par. Clay-Mining) , mi-xed with the vitrifying ingredients and water; next, the various sorts of clay are piled in layers. Vertical slices from this mass are taken to either a pug mill or rollers for tempering. The material is next sent to the molding room in cakes of convenient size. If only one piece is required, the clay may be mod- eleil by hand, ready for baking; but if the design is to be repeated a model is made and a mold taken, into which the clay is forced by hand. After partial drying the product is turned over to the finisher, who may be more or less skilled, according to the character of the design. After drying, the forms are baked or burned, as de- scribed under Kiln. Bibliography. Lecuyer, Terres cuites (Paris, 1882-85) : Cherret. Die Terrakotten (Berlin, 1880) : Pottier, Les stat'ieftes de terre cuite (Paris, 1890). The Greek statuettes are well
