Relief: Attendant with Two Horses
Artist
Palace of Schur-Bai-Pal
(Assyrian, 668–626 BCE)
Date688–626 BCE
Mediummarble with rich brown polish
Dimensions19.1 x 26.6 cm (7 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number1945.78
Label TextThe horses in this relief are portrayed with the great sensitivity and accuracy that characterizes all animals in Assyrian art. Here the tension and excitement of the horses is captured by their pricked ears, bulging eyes, flared nostrils and open mouths. Bred on the fertile plains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, these Assyrian horses, famous in antiquity for their speed and beauty, are perhaps ancestors of the modern Arabian horse. The relief fragment, said to be from the palace of King Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh, may be part of a continuing procession -- indicated by the traces of a third horse on the left -- a hunt or a battle scene, all favorite Assyrian subjects.ProvenanceSaid to have been excavated by Sir Austen Henry Layard, from whom it was acquired by Mr. Henry Yates Thompson; acquired by Mr. Archibald G. B. Russell, London, 1921; sold to the Worcester Art Museum by Spink & Son, Ltd., London, England, 1945.On View
On view
Chinese
Late Northern Song Dynasty (1042–1127)
Chinese
12th century, Northern Song (960–1127) or Jin Dynasty (1115–1234)
Chinese
12th or early 13th century, Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
Chinese
late 18th century, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Chinese
12th or 13th century, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) or Southern song dynasty (1127–1279)
Chinese
12th or 13th century, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) or Southern song dynasty (1127–1279)
Chinese
11th or 12th century, Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)