Art Institute of Chicago
Harness Ring
Greek; ThessalyLinkedCulture matchlcp-25a02db92899
- Date
- Geometric Period (800–600 BCE)
- Medium
- Bronze
- Culture
- Thessalía
- Department
- Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 196473
These precious bronzes objects are votives, or devotional gifts, made for gods. They come in many forms. Some are miniature sculptures of animals, mostly depicting horses, deer, and birds. Others are items of personal adornment, including beads and brooches. Quite a few seem once to have been attached to something else. This assemblage is characteristic of the thousands of votives that were hung from sacred trees or placed in sanctuaries around Greece. Once a shrine was full, the votives were gathered together and ceremonially buried to make room for more offerings. This comes from Thessaly in north-eastern Greece.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Alexander
- Provenance
- George Zakos, Basel, Switzerland from at least 1965 [according to email from the owner of Ariadne Galleries to Mrs. Walter Alexander in curatorial file]; purchased by Ariadne Galleries of New York, NY about 1975; sold to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Alexander of Geneva, IL, 1985; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2008.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300411641
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