Getty Museum

Horse and Rider

Date

about 550 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek (Boeotian)

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Thousands of clay figurines like this one survive from the Archaic period (600 to 480 B.C.). Clay was a common, inexpensive, and easily worked material, and these figurines--some highly finished and others less so--must have appealed to a broad range of people. The rider wears a dotted black chiton, or short tunic. He also wears a headband in his longish, curly hair. The artisan gave this horseman only a schematic face, with nose and eyes but no mouth. They then decorated the figurine with a clay slip before firing it. Terracotta figurines were produced throughout Greece, but they were especially popular in certain areas like Boeotia, where this one was made. Horses, with or without riders, were favorite subjects for Boeotian artisans. The figurines were frequently left as burial offerings in graves. Horses were a sign of wealth for the Greeks of this period, and the terracotta horses were probably left to symbolize and to reinforce the high status of the deceased.

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