A large silver appliqué, to cover the frontal head of a horse, with richly chased decoration showing the outstanding work of probably Pontus Greek artists; in the centre the head of Athena Promachos (warrior Athena), seen from three quarters, inside a phalera (disc) decorated with foliate motifs; the goddess is represented carrying an attic helmet ornamented with a three-folded plume (tryfaleia); the phalera is positioned and affixed between two female Deities; above a female priestess is performing a sacrifice to a statue of a goddess (probably Athena), standing on a base; on the left and right are two smaller gorgoneia, or representations of the Medusa, the snake-haired Gorgon killed by the hero Perseus, whose gaze petrified men; the phalerae and the other images are mounted upon a structure which represents the straps of a horse muzzle, upon which the fragmentary piece of armour was collocated; mounted on a custom-made stand.

PROVENANCE:
Property of a UK collector; formerly in the collection of Jan Adler, London, UK; acquired 1983; previously with Gorny & Mosch, 17 December 2014, lot 54 (20,000.00 euros); accompanied by a copy of the relevant Gorny & Mosch catalogue pages; and an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

LITERATURE:
See Daremberg - Saglio, Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, Paris, 1873 - 1917; Yavtushenko, I (ed.), Masterpieces of Platar, Kiev, 2004; Архипова Є.І., канд.іст.наук; Відейко М.Ю., канд.іст.наук; Клочко В.І., д-р.іст.наук; Клочко Л.С., канд.іст.наук; Левада М.Є; Симоненко О.В., д-р.іст.наук; Стоянов Р.В, Колекція предметів старовини родин Платонових та Тарут, Київ, 2004; The phalera with the head of Athena Promachos find a good correspondence with the famous piece found in the Scythian Koul-Oba Kurgan (near Kertsch, Crimea, S. Daremberg-Saglio, s.v. Galea, col. 1451, fig. 3476), giving us a clear idea of the provenance of the piece of armour; the representation of Athena shows her famous helmet, copying the helmet of Athena Parthenos of Phidias, decorated with a great richness and with the crest recalling the Phaloi (horse-crests) of Homeric Age; the two phalerae representing Medusa are identical to a horse phalera of 2,9 cm (dated 330-300 BC) published by Ukraine archaeologists in 2004 (Архипова-Відейко-Клочко-Клочко-Левада-Симоненко-Стоянов, 2004, p. 98 fig. 5b), again part of a Scythian grave deposit.

FOOTNOTES:
It is not a wonder that Athena, protector of the war horse, was used as decoration for the front piece of the horse armour. In the Greek world, horse armours were already in use since at least from the 7th century BC, but increasingly in the Hellenistic age, especially after the military reforms of Philip II and Alexander III the Great of Macedonia, where the cavalry was employed as a fundamental tactical instrument on the battlefield, and not only as support of the Phalanx. At the same time protection for the horse, especially with the creation of units of armoured cavalry following the Iranian models, increased as well. Such protection for Hellenistic and then Roman armies was sometimes complete, comprising defences for the head (prometopidia, chamfron), the neck and the body. The Greek terms for the various elements are listed in the 2nd century BC by Pollux, in his Onomastico (I, 140-141): προμετωπίδιον (protection of the head), παρώπιον (eye-protectors), παρήϊον (cheek-pieces), προστερνίδιον (covering for the breast), παραπλευρίδιον (protection of the flanks), παραμηρίδιον (covering for the thighs), and even παρακνημίδιον (covering for the legs). The Prometopidion was often created from one piece of bronze or brass, but in this case was probably an openwork applied upon the leather straps of the muzzle. The piece was applied over a leather base, being a functional piece of horse protection to be worn in battle, probably by a high military commander.

The προμετωπίδιον is an exquisite product of Greek Pontic art. After settling on the Pontus Euxinus Coast by the Greeks, attracted by its minerals, fertile soils and profits with local inhabitants (Scythians, Tauri, Maeoti), important Hellenic centres flourished in the area from the 5th-4th century BC, forming the main Greek states of Olbia, Chersonesos and the Pontic Kingdom. Although in general their artistic productions do not differ a lot from that of the Greek homeland, the North-Pontic jewellers and craftsmen established their own styles of decoration. They excelled in the stamped metallic appliqué, such as this example, where the three main phalerae were produced separately to be incorporated in the structure of the frontal horse protection.