Fragmentary Group of a Horse and Rider

Artist Unidentified artist

CultureSyrian

Datec. 1800-1600 BCE

Mediumterra cotta

Dimensions2 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (7 x 7 cm)

Classificationssculpture

Credit LineAckland Fund

Object number66.27.2

DescriptionThe horse is intact, but only parts of the hands and legs of the rider survive. Surface is worn around nose and ears, a mottled dark brown on back. Terracotta.
The horse has a cylindrical muzzle, neck, and body. The body is elongated, the short legs are spread in a V shape and rounded at the ends; a small tail is suggested. The nose is flattened at the end with holes for the nostrils and a slash for the mouth. The round eyes are added, the centers drilled; the ears are thick. Above the eyes a horizontal band with vertical bars suggests forehead hair. Three projections, one above the eyes and one on each foreleg, remain from the rider. The rider had held the horse’s neck, and his legs pressed against the withers. Horse and rider figurines of a similar style were fabricated in North Syria circa the eighteenth to seventeenth centuries BCE, the likely date of the Ackland piece.

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