A Votive Offering in the form of a Geometric Horse

Greece or Italy
Late Geometric Period | 8th – 6th Century BC

Bronze | With original intensive green patina
H. 7,2 cm. W. 10,2 cm. | On later fibreglass base

PROVENANCE
With Alex G. Weber Kunsthandel GmbH | Cologne | 1999
Private collection | The Netherlands

LITERATURE
Exhibition catalogue (1998). Weber Kunsthandel. Cologne: Lohmar, p. 8, with ill.

REFERENCE LITERATURE
Walters, H. B. (1899). Catalogue of the bronzes, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan, in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: British Museum, p. 13, nr. 176
Zimmerman, J. L. (1989). Les chevaux de bronze dans l'art géométrique grec. Mainz/Geneva: Von Zabern & Editions Archéologiques de l'Université de Genève

EXPERTISE
With expertise and proof of purchase by Weber Kunsthandel GmbH, Cologne, dd. 26 March 1999

CATALOGUE NOTE
A cast bronze votive figurine of a horse, depicted standing on four long legs and featuring an elongated slender body with a long tail. The rendering of facial and anatomical details shows a strict stylisation typical for the Geometric Period. Weber dates the present figurine to the Late Geometric period, ca. 8Th – 6th Century BC. Comparable piece can be found in the collection of the British Museum, London (inv. nr. 1854,0519.161; Walters, 1899, p. 13).

The cultures of Ancient Antiquity are known for their funerary rites in order to prepare the deceased for the afterlife, supporting the deceased through offerings and sacred objects. It was believed that by placing these items in the tomb, they would accompany the dead in the afterlife and aid them on their way. Votive figurines made out of bronze and terracotta were also used by the Ancient Greeks as offerings. As well as continuing the practice of using offerings for funerary rites, they also deposited objects at shrines. Figures included both fauna and humans, such a warriors. Statuettes of local fauna, such as this interesting example, have been largely recovered from ancient burials. Made of bronze, this would have been a more expensive offering than a terracotta example. Horses especially were considered animals of enormous importance in ancient cultures. Such statuettes would have also been placed in temples and shrines as votive offerings. Interestingly, bronze horses of a similar style have been recovered across different ancient cultures. This can be explained by the fact that even in an archaic period such as the first millennium BC, artistic and commercial exchanges happen between cultures of different geographical areas.