Statuette of a Horse (750–725 BCE): Art, History and Details

Statuette of a Horse (750–725 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A small but powerful status symbol, this solid-cast horse may have served as a dedication in a Greek religious sanctuary. The long tail helps to steady the figurine for standing, but the perforated base also suggests suspension, perhaps from a tree or sanctuary structure. With their balanced proportions and radically stylized silhouettes, such horses epitomize the clarity of Greek Geometric design.

Object facts

• Title: Statuette of a Horse
• Date: 750–725 BCE
• Culture: Greek, Geometric, probably Arcadian
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 7.3 cm (2 7/8 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1991.49

A detail from the museum

Horses were among the most frequently depicted creatures in the Greek Geometric period.

Collection credit

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Dr. Leo Mildenberg in memory of John D. Cooney

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kozloff, Ariellé P. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.
• Kozloff, Arielle, and Nino Urushadze. "Animal Style Bronze Art and Its Closest Parallels: A Bronze Belt and Axe Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 5 (1994): 118-39.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.