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bronze sculpture group of the Artemision horse and jockey
£325.00
The original Hellenistic bronze group, dating to the mid-late 2nd century BC, were recovered from a shipwreck in the sea at Cape Artemision off the island of Euboea - modern Evia. The horse was recovered in 1928 and the boy jockey in 1937. This famous piece is in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. It is among the very few surviving large-scale bronze sculptures from antiquity. Also available in larger sizes - email me.
dimensions: Height including the base to the top of the jockey's head: 19cm
dimensions of the marble base: Length: 22cm Width: 7cm Height: 2cm.
quantity
about the bronzes in this collection
The bronze pieces are cast in Greece using the traditional lost wax method. As nothing is mass-produced, there will inevitably be slight variations in texture, patina, and colour. No two pieces are ever the same. If mounted on a marble base, it will be a black or very dark grey base. There may be a variation of some millimetres in the dimensions of the base from time to time. It's All Greek is so grateful and so proud to have been working closely with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege and a joy to handle, live with, and photograph these gorgeous pieces and to pass them on to customers all over the world. |
about the horse
The horse - Greek 'hippos' - was a symbol of wealth, status, military power, and divine majesty. Horses were integral to a thriving economy, and an essential part of victorious warfare. These high value and high maintenance luxury items, were pretty much restricted to ownership by the aristocracy and/or the wealthy.
Owning and entering chariot teams in the Panhellenic Games (such as the Olympic in Olympia, the Pythian in Delphi) and in the Panathenaic Games in Athens, brought great prestige to the owner. Achilles in the Iliad rode into battle with immortal horses (who could also speak) Xanthos and Balios.
Poseidon, god of the sea, oceans, and earthquakes, created the horse from the crashing waves, connecting the animal's untamed, powerful spirit to elemental fury. The sun god Helios and the moon goddess Selene drove their horse-drawn chariots across the sky, anchoring the horse in the daily rhythm of the universe. Pegasus the winged horse, and son of Poseidon and Medusa, represents the ultimate bridge between the earthly realm and divine inspiration.
Figurines in bronze and terracotta have been found in abundance in ancient Greek religious sanctuaries, where they would have been sold to visitors to leave as offerings to the gods.