Image

Greenish-gray metal ornament of a horse’s head fitted onto a white pedestal. Its head is turned, with curls of hair falling along the ridge of its neck and its saddle.
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Unknown Maker, Roman

Couch decoration in the form of a horse's head

Description

Maker

Unknown Maker, Roman

Culture

Roman

Title

Couch decoration in the form of a horse's head
Horse Head from Fulcrum of Kline (couch)

Period

Roman

Year

100s CE

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

bronze

Dimensions

17 x 13.5 x 13.5 cm (6 11/16 x 5 5/16 x 5 5/16 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum purchase with funds from Museum Appropriation Fund and Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

27.221

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries
Sep 22, 2010

Label copy

As the symposium was a leisurely occasion, participants customarily reclined on couches (kline) while they drank and conversed. The headrest and footrest of kline were adorned with decorative elements, like this bronze horse head. The panther skin tied around the horse’s neck and the corkscrew curls of the mane are associated with the wine god Dionysus, making this bronze particularly suited to the wine-drinking revelry of the symposium. Although attributed to ancient Rome, this figure’s dramatic details - the flared nostrils, grooved jaw, open mouth, and twisted neck - reflect th heightened sense of realism and emotion in the art of Hellenistic Greece.

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Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Roman
Couch decoration in the form of a horse's head; Horse Head from Fulcrum of Kline (couch), 100s CE
Bronze
17 x 13.5 x 13.5 cm (6 11/16 x 5 5/16 x 5 5/16 inches)
Museum purchase with funds from Museum Appropriation Fund and Mrs. Gustav Radeke 27.221

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