There’s something about the texture of terracotta, like plaster – it reflects and captures light in a way that seems unusually clear and crisp.

These are two more from the Museum of Natural History in DC.

I ate dinner once at an Indian restaurant in Toronto that had large (6′ tall?) terracotta plaques of voluptuous dancing temple goddesses. They were amazing. I wish I knew where I could get something like that, even though it totally does not go with my decor. I know a sculptor who does terracotta and periodically I try to convince them that they should do clay samurai armor and she always bugs her eyes and makes devil-warding signs at the suggestion.

Perhaps my love of terracotta is because teenage Marcus spent a lot of time crushing on Rodin sculptures (I freely admit it!)