Side Handle of a Hydria

Pairs of horses' heads and forelegs, or protomes, are joined back to back to decorate the ends of what was originally the side handle of a bronze hydria. Large palmettes fill the space between the horses' heads. The style of the work indicates that it was made in one of the Greek colonies in South Italy, perhaps at Tarentum.

Decorative attachments in the shape of horse protomes were a popular element on South Italian tripods and bronze vessels of various shapes. On this example, the artist enlivened the horses with details: the long strands of the manes are incised and the muscles on the forelegs are rendered in relief. Modeled in the round, the faces turn out to face the viewer.