Archaic II

Terracotta statuette of a donkey and rider

The male rider sits sidesaddle on his mount. Horses would have been owned only by individuals with the greatest wealth and social status. The many preserved statuettes make clear that donkeys were commonly used for the transport of people and goods. H. 4 7/16 in. (11.3 cm)

Date

600 - 480 BC

Accession No.

74.51.1780

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

From Cyprus, said to be from Ormidhia

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1877. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. p. 164, London: John Murray.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. pl. LXXII.652, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1895. The Terracottas and Pottery of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in Halls 4 and 15. no. 395, p. 33, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 2085, p. 343, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos. 1995. The Coroplastic Art of Ancient Cyprus, Vol. 4. no. II(i)e.6, p. 96, pl. L.2, Nicosia: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 247, pp. 154-55, 256, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos. 2006. Aspects of Everyday Life in Cyprus: Iconographic Representations. no. 165, pp. 176-77, Nicosia: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 107, p. 65, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.