LOT 0590

Cypriot Terracotta Horse and Rider Figure

8TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.

6 1/8 in. (206 grams, 15.5 cm wide).

A horse and rider figure modelled in the round, standing on elongated stub legs, stout neck with stylised painted mane and coat detailing, waisted muzzle with raised almond-shaped eyes defined by painted roundels, solid colouring to the muzzle and short tail; rider represented by a torso and D-shaped head, arms reaching for the horse's neck and gripping its mane, painted detailing to the arms, hands and face. [No Reserve]

London deceased estate, 1960s-1970s.
Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 74.51.1771, for very similar.

Terracotta figurines of horse and rider were common grave offerings in Boeotia, northwest of Attica, particularly during the 6th century B.C. Representations of warriors on horseback were already diffused in the Geometric Period, and widely employed in Cyprus, in this same period. The image of our rider, although influenced by Cypriot designs, does not show typical Cypriot characteristics, and indeed his kausia cap suggests a northern Greek origin.