The Portable Antiquities Scheme

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Late Iron Age copper alloy horse figurine, of La Tène style and probably dating to the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD The figurine depicts a horse and is incomplete, missing the head, legs and tail. The horse figurine has a surviving length of 43.61mm and a surviving height of 34.71mm, weighing 23.7g. The piece is finely cast and is decorated with a rectangular enamelled strip (27.2mm long, 2.26mm wide and 0.7mm deep) running from the base of the neck along the back of the horse and filled with red enamel. The body is long and slender and the neck is stylised and is longer than would be expected, elegantly curving to the missing head. The mane is represented by a moulded rib running up the rear of the neck. The breast of the animal is decorated with a small raised triangular pellet (3.8mm wide and long) containing a central circular indentation (1.0mm diameter), possibly also intended to hold enamel. The figurine has generally good surface preservation with a rich, dark green patina. It is now difficult to ascertain what artefact type, if any, the figure was from and there is no surviving means of attachment on the incomplete artefact. The figure may have been free-standing, or possibly attached to a vessel or casket lid. Representations of pigs or boars were popular in ‘Celtic’ traditions and free-standing figure are represented in the archaeological record (see Jope, 2000, p 264-5, Nos. 160-62) , and include a small figure found at Rhossili, Swansea (Jope, 2000, p. 265, No. 162). Free-standing figures of stags, dogs, oxen and birds (often ducks) are also occasionally represented. Free-standing horse figurines are uncommon, a Late Iron Age horse, interpreted as a figurine was found at Abercarn, Caerphilly (Savory, 1954) and is also missing its legs. The Abercarn example has a similar sender waist to this example. A small outline figure of a horse cut from sheet bronze and probably a vessel handle was recovered from Silchester (Jope, 2000, p. 268, No. 174) and is likely to be of early Romano-British date. It is possible that this figurine derived from a vessel lid, and possibly from a flagon or similar, although few British parallels are recorded of this form. An example attached to the lid of a fine flagon was recovered from a mid-4th century BC burial at Waldalgesheim, Germany.

• Jope, E.M, 2000. Early Celtic Art in the British Isles Clarendon : Oxford University Press, pp.
• Savory H.N., 1954. Bronze Figurine from Abercarn XV, .

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Created: Thursday 25th May 2006
Updated: Thursday 24th February 2011