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Mystery Horse Bust

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Animals4057 of 7733A few more pieces from my horse collection:Sphinx Giraffe brooch
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    Posted 8 years ago

    Epona
    (3 items)

    I have owned this horse bust for nearly 30 years, but haven't been able to learn who (or what company) made it. It's made of a cast yellowish metal, (maybe either brass or bronze), weighs 14 pounds, and stands 16 inches tall (without the base). I'm not interested in it's value, but it's my favorite of my horse collection, and I would love to know who made it and about when it was made. I've searched many books and talked to many horse collectors, but none of them has ever seen it before.

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    Comments

    1. kyratango kyratango, 8 years ago
      A piece of art for sure!
      Welcome to CW, Ô Horses Goddess :-)
    2. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 8 years ago
      Where did you get it from? Interesting that such a sculpture has no maker's marks anywhere.
    3. Epona Epona, 8 years ago
      Efesgirl,
      I found it at an antique mall in Georgia. We've looked very carefully for a mark, but couldn't find one. I did read on the Real or Repo website that 90% of modern reproduction metal sculptures have a fake signature, and since this one has no signature, I don't think it's a copy of any famous artist's work. I've even tried a couple of the online appraisal sites, but no luck there either. I've talked to many people who have seen similar Trojan or Etruscan horse busts, but nobody who has ever seen this particular one. It's so frustrating!
    4. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 8 years ago
      I can believe that...I did an Image search looking for anything that even partly resembled it and got bupkus. I found your queries on http://able2know.org/ and http://iantiqueonline.ning.com/

      I gather that the flour method didn't work? A shame that you can't remove it from the plinth and take a look at the inside.
      You are the proud owner of a splendid OOAK horse head sculpture, it seems!
    5. Epona Epona, 8 years ago
      Efesgirl,
      We did take it off the base. It is attached with screws, which lets me know it's a fairly modern piece. That was also how we determined that the underlying metal is a yellowish gold color, but don't know if it's brass or copper. Not sure what I'd call the style, (deco?, modern?, impressionist?). but whatever it is I LOVE it. I'd love to be able to find more pieces by the artist, whoever he/she is.
      I've been collecting horses and horse memorabilia for ages, and I was able to adopt two rescue horses 8 years ago, a young gorgeous thoroughbred and a retired quarter horse. A dream come true for me!
    6. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 8 years ago
      Oh, I see. I was hoping that you might have found a label stuck inside, but that was not to be. I also did a search under Italian horse head sculpture, but found nothing like yours. I did, however, find horse sculptures with the separation in the mane.

      :-((((
    7. Epona Epona, 8 years ago
      Efesgirl and nutsabotas6,

      Horses with this type of cropped mane are known by several different names: Trojan Horse, Etruscan Horse, Roman Horse and War Horse. They're seen frequently in early Greek and Roman art, so looking for Italian horse head sculpture was a good choice. I guess the most common choice of name for this style mane would be Trojan Horse, from "The Trojan Horse" a tale from "The Trojan Wars."
      Thanks for the effort guys. I really appreciate it!!
    8. Epona Epona, 8 years ago
      Thanks, CindB!
    9. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 8 years ago
      You're welcome - I was hoping to offer up a result, but that was not to be...boo hoo!
    10. Epona Epona, 8 years ago
      kyratango, Thank you!
    11. Windwalker, 8 years ago
      I would send a picture or two to a couple of art gallery's on bronze, in Greece..

      https://www.google.com/search?q=Ancient+Greek+Bronzed+Trojan+horse+head&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=923&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7tv6d77vMAhULOD4KHQ11AP0QsAQIHQ

    12. Epona Epona, 8 years ago
      Windwalker,
      Thank you for the link!

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