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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1952.41
Title
Horse on Openwork Base
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
second half 8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Geometric period, Late
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/311561

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
6.4 x 7.9 x 4 cm (2 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 1 9/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 94.77; Sn, 4.73; Pb, 0.39; Zn, 0.012; Fe, 0.02; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.02; Sb, 0.03; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, zinc, iron, nickel, silver, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: 1952.41 has been stripped of corrosion products, and the surface is now slightly oxidized bright metal and very pitted, with black material in the pitted areas. The right rear leg is broken and dislocated at the knee. The other stamps (1920.44.224, 1966.108, and 1987.33) are mostly green with areas of red. 1966.108 is mostly mineralized and the surface has been cleaned, leaving scrape marks in many areas. The tail is lost. 1920.44.224 has most of its rough corrosion products intact. The tip of the beak is lost. 1987.33 is broken and crudely repaired at the post under the left bird and the strut between their necks. Portions of both birds’ tails are lost.

All of the stamps appear to have been modeled directly in wax prior to casting. No evidence of metal joins is visible. The large horse’s (1952.41) base appears to have been constructed from strips of wax rather than pierced from a wax sheet. The strut between the bird pair (1987.33) projects through the neck on the right bird and was probably set into holes in the necks in the wax model.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Professor Vladimir G. Simkhovitch
Accession Year
1952
Object Number
1952.41
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The head of this horse has a long muzzle but is lacking any other features including ears, which were possibly lost because of surface corrosion. The neck is short, especially when compared with the long barrel and back and the attenuated legs that are widely planted on the base. On the hind legs, either hocks or fetlocks are lightly indicated approximately three-fourths of the way down the haunches. Hooves are not delineated where the legs meet the base. The right hind leg is cracked through at its midpoint. The tail, now mostly lost, falls from the elevated rump as a thin rod and originally connected with the loop projecting from the rear of the base.

The base is rectangular with rounded corners. It is divided vertically into three parallel rows of openwork triangles with rounded corners: five triangles in the two outer rows, and seven—including the triangle with the projecting loop at the rear—in the center. Sections of the left outer edge of the base are missing. The front legs of the horse are fixed 0.05 cm from the forward edge of the base.

The surface of this piece is pitted and corroded. In 1953, it was cleaned electrolytically to a red-brown patina, but the color has since darkened considerably to a deep chocolate brown.

S. Langdon has dated this horse to 730-710 BCE and attributed it to a Tegean workshop with Argive influence because of the horizontal emphasis of the barrel, the high rump, and the long muzzle (1). This dating and attribution have also been published by J.-L. Zimmermann, who also assigns it to an Arcadian workshop of the late eighth century BCE (2). There are parallels to the base on various bronze votive animal figurines at Olympia, which W.-D. Heilmeyer attributes to a Lakonian workshop (3).

NOTES:

1. S. Langdon, “Horse on an Openwork Base,” in Ancient Art from the V. G. Simkhovitch Collection, ed. W. Rudolph and A. Calinescu, exh. cat., Indiana University Art Museum (Bloomington, 1988) 84, no. 58.

2. J.-L. Zimmermann, Les chevaux de bronze dans l’art géométrique grec (Mainz, 1989) no. 90; for further comparison, see ibid., pls. 75-78. On Arcadian workshop animals at Olympia, see W.-D. Heilmeyer, Frühe olympische Bronzefiguren: Die Tiervotive, Olympische Forschungen 12 (Berlin, 1979) 99-109, pls. 56-58. On Archaic sanctuaries in Arcadia, see M. E. Voyatzis, The Early Sanctuary of Athena Alea at Tegea and Other Archaic Sanctuaries in Arcadia, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology and Literature 97 (Göteborg, 1990) 127-33, pls. 66-69; and D. K. Hill, “Six Early Greek Animals,” American Journal of Archaeology 59 (1955): 39-44, esp. 39, figs. 1-3, pl. 29.

3. On the parallels with Lakonian workshop bases at Olympia, see Heilmeyer 1979 (supra 2) 120-25, figs. 7-9.


Tamsey Andrews and David G. Mitten

Publication History

  • George M. A. Hanfmann, "Acquisitions of the Fogg Art Museum: Sculpture and Figurines", American Journal of Archaeology (1954), Vol. 58, No. 3, 223-229, p. 226, pl. 38, figs. 9-10.
  • Séan Hemingway, "How Bronze Statues Were Made in Classical Antiquity", The Fire of Hephaistos (1966), No. 19, 2-8, p. 2-3, figs. 3, 4.1-3.
  • David Gordon Mitten and Amy Brauer, Dialogue with Antiquity, The Curatorial Achievement of George M. A. Hanfmann, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1982), p. 13, no. 31.
  • Wolf Rudolph and Adriana Calinescu, ed., Ancient Art from the V. G. Simkhovitch Collection, exh. cat., Indiana University Art Museum (Bloomington, IN, 1988), p. 84, no. 58.
  • Jean-Louis Zimermann, Les Chevaux de Bronze dans l'Art Géométrique Grec, Verlag Philipp von Zabern (Mainz, 1989), pp. 96 and 107, no. 90, pl. 22.

Exhibition History

  • Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982
  • Of Gods and Mortals: Ancient Art from the V. G. Simkhovitch Collection, Indiana University Art Museum, 09/16/1987 - 12/20/1987

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu