Eastern Greek Architectural Decoration: Fragmentary Frieze Plaque with Horse Hindquarters in Relief
Inv. No.: 90.006
Provenance: East Greece (Phyrgia)
Date: second half of 6th century BC
Height: 162mm
Depth: 32mm
An irregularly-shaped architectural terracotta fragment decorated with the hindquarters and belly of a horse plus the leg of its rider, all moulded in low relief. The coarse clay is orange in colour and details of the horse and rider are painted in black. Comparison with intact terracotta plaques with similar figures suggests that this fragment comes from a building near Düver in southwestern Turkey that dates from the late sixth century BC. An antefix in the Antiquities Museum collection (75.6) comes from the same site. The original scene forms part of a frieze of horsemen and griffins. The horses rear up slightly and the griffins walk sedately; both proceed to the right with the griffin preceding the horseman. An example of the griffin's head can be seen in fragment 91.3 which belongs to the same type of plaque.
Function:
From a terracotta frieze, part of the lateral cornice including the roof drainage system, used to protect a wooden beam in a building made from timber and brick. It was also part of a decorative scheme.
Manufacture:
A mould-made plaque.
Decoration:
- The hind quarters of the horse are outlined in black and are decorated with a whirl-rosette. Part of the moulded tail with its black outline is visible on the left edge of the fragment.
- The rider wears Anatolian costume; the parts visible in this fragment include long trousers, outlined in black, and a black tunic the edge of which is decorated with a black pattern of open squares between horizontal straight lines. The zigzag edge of the black saddle is also visible.
Bibliography:
Charles Ede Catalogue, 152 (1990), No. 42.
Greifenhagen, A., "Ein Architecktonisches Terrakottarelief aus Kleinasien", Archäologischer Anzeiger, 81 (1966), 44-47.
Mayo, M. E., "Architectural Terra Cottas from Phrygia", Arts in Virginia, 21, No. 2 (1981), 29-35.
Mellink, M. J., "Archaeology in Asia Minor’, American Journal of Archaeology, 68 (1964), 159 and 69 (1965), 143.
Thomas, N., "Recent Acquisitions by Birmingham City Museum", Archaeological Reports for 1964-65 (1965), 64-70.
Comparanda:
Asgari, N. et al, The Anatolian Civilisations II. Greek/Roman/Byzantine, exhibition catalogue, St Irene, Istanbul, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 1983, B.131 (an example of a complete plaque).
Green, J. R., Antiquities: A description of the Classics Department Museum in The Australian National University, Canberra, Canberra, The Australian National University, 1981, Inv. No. 76.02, pp. 86-87 (plaque).
Greifenhagen, A., "Ein Architecktonisches Terrakottarelief aus Kleinasien", Archäologischer Anzeiger, 81 (1966), Figs. 1-2 (complete plaque and a reconstruction).
Mayo, M. E., "Architectural Terra Cottas from Phrygia", Arts in Virginia, 21, No. 2 (1981), Figs. 3-17 (more examples and a reconstruction of the frieze).
Thomas, N., "Recent Acquisitions by Birmingham City Museum", Archaeological Reports for 1964-65 (1965), Figs. 4-5 (another example and a reconstruction of the original frieze).