Terracotta was first used in Prehistoric Art, as demonstrated by the notable Venus of Dolní Věstonice (26,000-24,000 BC), found buried in a layer of ash at a Paleolithic campsite in Moravia. Paleolithic terracotta figures were fired in primitive kilns, created under open fires. Famous terracotta figures from the Neolithic Art period include: The seated Goddess figure (c. 6000 BC) from Çatalhöyük, Anatolia, and The Thinker of Cernavoda (5000 BC) from the Lower Danube region in Romania.

Bronze and Iron Age artists continued the terracotta tradition; see, for example, the female fertility cult figures unearthed in Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan (3000-1500 BC) and The Burney Relief (ca. 1950 BC) from ancient Mesopotamia. In China, potters and sculptors have proven to be equally skilled with clay. Indeed, Chinese art is responsible for the largest collection of terracotta sculptures ever found: the Terracotta Army (246-208 BC).

In conclusion, from the Mesopotamian Art Era along the Tigris and Euphrates, and Egyptian Art along the Nile, terracotta bricks and tiles have been used for centuries in the construction of domestic and civic structures. Terracotta is especially prominent in Chinese ceramics (from 10000 BC) and Greek ceramics (from 7000 BC), as well as in Minoan Art from Crete, and Etruscan Art on the Italian peninsula. In fact, terracotta statues prevailed in Greek architecture, mainly for decorating temples; while terracotta reliefs were a common feature of Roman architecture.

Later, the art of terracotta was revived during the Italian Renaissance and experienced a new rebirth during the 19th century.