Horse Buckle
| Artist | |
| Name | Unknown |
| Basic Info | |
| Period | Byzantine period, Middle |
| Created in | Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia |
| Century | 11th-12th century |
| Culture | Byzantine |
| Dimensions | 3.4 x 4.1 cm (1 5/16 x 1 5/8 in.) |
| Harvard Museum | |
| Department | Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics |
| Division | Asian and Mediterranean Art |
| Contact | am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu |
Context
This cast copper alloy buckle in the shape of a horse has two loops on the back by means of which a belt was attached. The tang protruding from the reverse would have locked into a second part of the buckle, now lost, or possibly into a notch in the belt. The horse is stout and round, its head disproportionately large in comparison to its body. Lines and dots around the horse’s neck and mid-section represent a harness and saddle. Protrusions from the head and back represent additional trappings. Similar objects, sometimes identified as brooches, have been found in Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), Beirut, and Antioch and are dated from the tenth to twelfth centuries (1). NOTES: 1. Compare with unpublished examples at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, inv. nos. 1927.432, 1889.118, 1889.687, and 1927.429. Alicia Walker
TechnicalDetails
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates