Animal Sculptures from the Ancient World

Heavenly horse. Ceremonial gilted bronze finial with standing horse, 4th-1st century BC.

Ever since he first drew on the walls of his cave, man has had the desire to depict the creatures around him. In nomadic tradition, horse is one of the mythological animals, embodying the connection with the other world, with the supernatural.

The horse, exceptionally white, has always been associated with the sun, with daytime clarity, with fire, air, sky, water, solar heroes, as an expression of good human aspirations in his daily work and struggle against difficulties. The white sun horse is an attribute of divine forces constantly fighting against evil, an opposition to death.

In the beliefs and rites of nomads, firstly, the horse itself, secondly, its separate parts — the skull, cervical vertebrae, skin, hair, thirdly, objects associated with it — bridle, clamp, sweat, reins, whip, fallen horseshoe, image, etc. act as the patroness and protector of people. The horse had the ability to drive out evil forces from the human body.

A vivid evidence of such a cult is an artifact, which was finished in the form of a horse.

It is the only one in the world that was found in the entire territory of the Eurasian steppes, a bronze top with the image of a horse, which was used in rituals dedicated to the cult of Heavenly horses. According to the unanimous conclusion of experts, this find is a ritual tip, which was also a symbol of the ruler’s power. The Heavenly Horse of the nomads corresponded to the image of Pegasus in ancient Greek mythology. The discovery of the tip is difficult to overestimate as nothing of the kind was found.

It represents the rarest cult object and corresponds in value to Royal Standards of Egypt and Babylon. When the rulers were moving, placing his bet, holding certain festivals and rituals, the use of the tip in this kind of various ceremonies was undoubted. Such regalia, like power, were most likely inherited and could only belong to the king.

The horse breed on the bronze top is very similar to the horses of Ferghana, one of the centers of horse breeding in the Ancient East. These horses were highly valued because they had elegant and graceful appearance, and were much faster and more durable than those breeds that were common at that time in China and Mongolia.

Ferghana ‘Heavenly’ horses belong to one of the world’s earliest known cultural racehorse breeds of fast and light eastern type. They were the ancestors of all the best Asian horse breeds: Arabian, Turkmen (Akhalteke) and modern Kyrgyz.

Bronze finial in the form of a dove. Byzantine, circa 5th century AD.

Bronze finial in the form of a dove dating from around the 5th century AD, possibly an early Christian piece representing Noah’s Dove, a symbol of resurrection.

Birds and animals played an important role in every aspect of ancient Egyptian culture. They believed that the world was inhabited by unseen powers and forces which could be made manifest by the behaviour and characteristics of living creatures. Thus, deities could take the form of animals though, even if a deity adopted a certain animal form, not all members of that particular species were sacred. Some animals were never associated with a deity but had a symbolic significance while others appear only as hieroglyphic signs in the written Egyptian language.
One of the best known Egyptian gods is Bastet represented by the cat and, indeed, the most prized piece in this exhibition is a handsome bronze mummy mask of a cat’s head, its large scale indicating that it would have belonged to a particularly important or venerated cat. The female cat came to be associated uniquely with Bastet, an ancient goddess worshipped at Per-Bastet (Bubastis) in the Delta. The seated cat, represents the goddess on earth and would have been the focus of ritual and worship in the temple.

Egyptian bronze head of a cat. Late Dynastic Period. 25th-31st Dynasty, 715–332 BC.

Egyptian bronze cat. Late Dynastic Period, 25th-31st Dynasty, 715–332 BC.

Other Egyptian animals and birds represented in the exhibition include bulls, baboons and crocodiles, falcons, vultures, ibis and owls, and these, like the cat, either represent gods or goddesses or are important protectors of the king. The materials used to represent them vary from gold and bronze to wood and terracotta.
The bull was revered for its belligerence, savagery and virility and from the earliest Dynasties was associated with the king as slaughterer of Egypt’s enemies. It was an animal form which was also associated with three major Egyptian deities, the most important being the Apis bull at Memphis, the double on earth of the creator god Ptah. Only one was alive at any one time and was installed next to the temple of Ptah at Memphis where it was supplied with a harem of cows, fed choice morsels, visited by pious worshippers and delivered oracles.

Egyptian bronze statuette of an Apis Bull. Late Dynastic Period. 25th-31st Dynasty, 715–332 BC.

The baboon was the form adopted by both Egyptian lunar gods, Khonsu of Thebes and Thoth of Hermopolis in Middle Egypt because of its curious behaviour at dawn when it sat on its hind legs, waved its front paws in the air and screeched thus making it a lunar creature as well as a creature of the sun with foreknowledge of the sun’s arrival.

Bronze baboon. Late Dynastic Period. 25th-31st Dynasty, 715–332 BC.

Thoth was the only god who adopted the animal manifestation of the ibis. The species, which is no longer extant in Egypt, was embalmed in huge numbers during the Late Period and images abounded.

Egyptian bronze and wood Ibis. Late Dynastic Period. 25th-31st Dynasty, 715–332 BC.

The falcon was revered from earliest times and was also strongly associated with creation and regeneration and was therefore a form adopted by a number of Egyptian gods.

Egyptian bronze falcon. Late Dynastic Period. 26th Dynasty, 664–525 BC.

Over the centuries and across the various ancient civilizations, animal forms have served as vessels, inspired decoration or even played a functional role. For example, a terracotta rhyton or drinking vessel from the Amlash region of the Gilan province, 1100–800 BC, takes the form of a Zebu or humped bull, while a bronze rhyton from Luristan (in present-day Iran), circa 6th century BC, is shaped as an elongated cow’s head.
The delightful painting of fish on a Greek terracotta red figure plate is attributed to the Hippocamp Painter, 320–300 BC.

Greek terracotta red figure fish plate, Apulian. Attributed to the Hippocamp Painter, Apulian IVb, 320–300 BC.

Dating from the 5th-4th century BC, a bronze sleeve weight or amulet from Inner Mongolia is distinctly feline and, like the rare bronze hound head terminal which was probably a chariot fitting, dating from 1st-2nd century AD, has survived and is appreciated as a stunning sculpture in its own right.

Bronze sleeve weight or amulet in the form of a feline, Ordos. 5th-4th century BC.

Bronze dog head terminal, Roman. c. 1st-2nd century AD.

Animals also feature prominently in items intended for adornment, objects that were prized possessions and symbols of status such as the Egyptian gold amulet in the form of a vulture, dating from the Third Intermediate Period, Late Dynastic Period, circa 1000–300 BC, or the Roman amethyst pendant in the form of a cockerel, which would look as charming today on a gold chain as it would have in the 2nd century AD when it was made.

Gold amulet in the form of a vulture. Third Intermediate Period-Late Dynastic Period, c. 1000–300 BC.

Some works seem to have been created for the enjoyment they would give, such as the charming Near Eastern bronze frog dating from the late 1st Millennium BC.

Near Eastern bronze frog. Late 1st Millennium BC.

Even the humble fly or cicada is embodied on a 3rd century AD Roman silver fibula.

Silver fibula of a fly or cicada. Roman. 3rd century AD.