LOT 0274

Western Asiatic Bronze Statuette of a Levantine Cavalryman

7TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.

3 1/2 in. (140 grams, 88 mm wide).

Modelled in the round figurine of a sturdy horse with saddlecloth and chest-band, bridle and reins, integral rider wearing a Phrygian helmet.

Formerly in a private collection, Beirut, Lebanon, 1990s.
Swiss private collection, acquired from Mr H., Geneva, 2010.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13178-249181.

Cf. similar rider in terracotta from the Cypriot collections of the MET, accession no.74.51.1664, and other images of cavalrymen in Karageorghis, V., Merker, G.S., Mertens, J.R., The Cesnola collection of Cypriot Art, Terracottas, New York, 2016, no.280, p.165, and also no.106; for the style of the cavalryman and his equipment see Cassin Scott, J., The Greek and Persian Wars 500-323 B.C., London, 1977.

The figure possibly represents a Phrygian cavalryman of the Persian Achaemenid army. It shows minute details of the harness, with muzzle and snaffle bit, which suggest Assyrian or Syrian in origin. The transversal decoration of the antilina strap remembers that of the Persian cavalry of the period (Cassin Scott, 1977, plate D).