Rare Greek Geometric Bronze Horse w/ Openwork Platform

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 13, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-02-13 10:00:00 2020-02-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-4848
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• Lot Description
  Ancient Greece, Geometric Period, ca. last quarter of the 8th century BCE. An incredible example of a cast-bronze horse presenting the characteristic abstract stylings of wealthy Laconian workshops and of the Geometric period. The equine figure stands with four slender legs atop an integral, openwork platform bearing several triangular cutouts and has a slender tail draped down to a protruding base nodule, a shallow spinal crest, and a muscular chest from which extends a curved, pinched neck. The narrow head exhibits abstract features such as bulging eyes, a cylindrical snout with incised concentric rings, and a pair of raised ears. Fine mottled layers of green and brown patina envelop the entire equestrian effigy. Zoomorphic representations of this period are generally more petite in scale than later Greek bronze sculptures, and their simplified schematic shapes are a testament to the unbound creativity of Geometric-era artisans! Size: 2.6" L x 1.2" W x 2.75" H (6.6 cm x 3 cm x 7 cm)
  
  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 commonly depicted things in Geometric Period art.
  
  For a stylistically similar example standing on an openwork base with a nursing foal, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1999.526
  
  For another strikingly similar example with a nearly identical openwork base, please see "The Muse's Song: Selections of Ancient Art." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 2008, fig. 13.
  
  For a stylistically similar example of a horse exhibiting Laconian workshop features, please see: Ortiz, George. "In Pursuit of the Absolute Art of the Ancient World: The George Ortiz Collection." Benteli-Werd Publishers, Berne, 1994, cat. no. 77.
  
  A strikingly similar example hammered for $120,000 at Sotheby's, New York "Antiquities" auction (December 9, 2003, lot 33).
  
  Provenance: ex-Neil Phillips collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1980s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #153157

  Condition

  Minor nicks, abrasions, and pitting to integral platform, legs, body, tail, and head, with softening to some finer details, and very light encrustations, otherwise intact and choice. Great mottled patina throughout.
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