**Originally Listed At $950**
Ancient Greece, likely Corinth, Geometric Period, ca. 8th to7th century BCE. An fine example of a cast-bronze ram (possibly horse) effigy figurine with simplified features. The miniature ram is pierced throughteh back and may have been surmounted on the tip of an implement as a decorative piece. Votive animal figurines were often placed in temples or shrines and deposited in religious sites, rams and horses were the perfect gift to honor and appease the gods as a universal symbol of virility, strength, and power. Size: 1.5" L x 0.5" W x 1.25" H (3.8 cm x 1.3 cm x 3.2 cm); 1.75" H (4.4 cm) on included custom stand.
The Geometric Period was when many of the trends that would define Classical Greece began. There was an explosion in population leading to the development of proto-urban centers and the construction of monumental temples and sanctuaries. Writing, lost after the Mycenaean period, returned to Greece, and along with it came the writing down of The Iliad and The Odyssey for the first time. Finally, much of the artwork of the period depicts scenes of gods that would later become codified as the official Greek state religion. As would be expected in a time period that in retrospect seems obsessed with epic themes - horses, chariots, and warriors were the most popular depicted things in Geometric Period art.
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Provenance: ex-Royal Athena Galleries, New York City, New York, USA; ex-American collection, 2000
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#177262
Condition
Softening to finer details and wear to snout and old losses to legs. Dark patina and toning.