• r2-231-10
    Frieze of horsemen, British Museum 1889,1021.1. (Photograph courtesy of the British Museum.)
  • r2-231-20
    Frieze of horsemen, back (Photograph courtesy of the British Museum.)

Frieze of Horsemen

Date
550-450 BC, Late Lydian (Persian)
Museum
London, British Museum, B269
Museum Inventory No.
B269
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
BM 1889,1021.1
Material
Marble, Stone
Object Type
Sculpture
Sculpture Type
Architectural Relief, Animal, Human Figure
Site
Bin Tepe
Sector
BT
Findspot
Found in 1882 by G. Dennis in one of the tumuli at BT.
Description

The joint on the r. is square, that on the I. is beveled, with a plain vertical band in front indicating the end of the relief. There are two flat moldings along the top and bottom; the space above, below, and between is recessed; and the relief is in the space between the moldings. The frieze shows three horsemen moving to r. Each carries a spear pointing forward and wears a chiton with a flap on either side of the shoulder. They seem to wear cuirasses; the crest of a helmet falls down their backs. The features are not modeled. Horses are squat and swaybacked with long pointed tails and elaborate harnesses, the bridles ornamented with discs. The first and third horses have all four feet on the ground; the middle one raises a foreleg. The figures are well rounded.

Pryce believed the piece to be possibly the arm of a throne or side of a couch, citing Choisy, Note sur les tombeaux, 79, fig. 13 as a comparison. He dated it to the second half of the 6th C.; Akurgal (Kunst Anatoliens, 156) to the 6th C. The horsemen on stocky horses seem earlier than those of the Daskylion stele of ca. 500 B.C. (Fig. 152).

Condition

White marble.

Slab broken off below; top surface preserved, as is the joint on either side.

Dimensions
H. 0.19, of relief 0.085; L. 0.43.
Comments
See Also
Bibliography
Published: Pryce, Catalogue Sculpture BM, 99-101, fig. 164; A. H. Smith, Catalogue Sculpture BM I, 24, no. 22; Sardis I, 9, 12; Perrot-Chipiez, Histoire de l’art, 903, fig. 535; Akurgal, Kunst Anatoliens, 156, fig. 107. For horsemen of the Persian period see Borchhardt, Epichorische Reliefs, 166-173, pls. 44-46. Tuchelt, Archaischen Skulpturen Didyma, 126, no. L 73b-c; 185, nn. 90, 91.
Author
NHR