TARENTINE, CLASSICAL PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK TERRACOTTA HORSE HEAD
TARENTINE, CLASSICAL PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.
3 7/8 in. (9.9 cm.) high

Provenance

Leo Mildenberg (1913-2001), Zurich, acquired by 1981.
A Peaceable Kingdom: The Leo Mildenberg Collection of Ancient Animals, Christie's, London, 26-27 October 2004, lot 73.

Literature

A.P. Kozloff, ed., Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Cleveland, 1981, no. 135.
P. E. Mottahedeh, ed., Out of Noah's Ark, Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Jerusalem, 1997, no. 106.

Exhibited

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, 21 October-29 November 1981.
Munich, Prähistorische Staatssammlung; Mannheim, Reiss-Museum; Jerusalem, Bible Lands Museum; Bonn, Akademisches Kunstmuseum; Stendal, Winckelmann-Museum, Out of Noah’s Ark: Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, 11 October 1996-28 June 1999.

Lot Essay

Taras (modern Taranto), a Greek colony in southern Italy, was an important center of coroplastic art from the 7th century B.C. onwards. During the 4th century, small-scale sculptures in terracotta were made to reflect famous stone monuments, demonstrating that the Tarentines had an appreciation for contemporary classical forms. This dynamic mould-made equine head, which would have probably formed part of a larger group, shares similarities with aspects of the Parthenon frieze (see J. Neils in A.P. Kozloff, op. cit.,. pp. 153-154).

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