It is the so-called Peplos Korê, a statue of a young woman, dating to around 530 BC. It was found on the Akropolis at Athens.

The name refers to the garment she is wearing (a peplos, a tunic of a type associated with the Dorian Greeks) and to the type of statue (a korê or maiden is a recurrent type, the female counterpart of the kouros or young man).

The statue is recognisably Late Archaic. The pose is still quite stiff; it predates the vivid forms that characterise Classical sculpture. The eyes are almond-shaped, showing the Near Eastern influence on Greek art in the late Archaic period (6th century BC). Finally, it has the characteristic "Archaic smile", another feature borrowed from Near Eastern examples, the meaning of which is unclear.