A small terracotta horse from the Geometric period. The animal stands upright and parts of its body are emphasized such as the croup and the mane. Dark brown paint covers the legs, hindquarters, and neck. The rest of the body reveals the color of the terracotta under the painted adornments which highlight a number of anatomical details such as the eyes, mane, and tail and also indicate the halter. A frieze of dotted linear circles placed between four horizontal lines decorates the chest of the horse.
The piece is in good condition, although the tail and three legs have been reassembled. The painting is uneven without damaging the elegance of the figurine.
The decoration of the chest of the horse is a distinctive feature in the decorative vocabulary of Greek vases from this period. It is perfectly in line with the production of the Middle Geometric period in Attica and are reflective of the decorative patterns that existed in basketry and weaving. The richness and variety of these motifs would have reached a high degree of complexity. However, these adornments are generally purely decorative and do not represent a physical reality.

The shape, the size, the decoration and the location of the adornment covering the horse are a trademark of the equines represented on flat lidded pyxides. These lidded vases were used to store jewels and were sometimes placed in the tombs of the wealthy. The shape of the flat lidded pyxis developed between the late 9th and middle of the 8th century, B.C.

For the Greeks, the horse was a symbol of male aristocracy. A pyxis lid depicting multiple horses would have been a sign of wealth. Such animals were very expensive and required substantial means for their upkeep. The figures of horses that were placed on pyxides generally feature the same decoration on the chest, composed of dotted circles and sometimes connected by a line. This adornment may be completed by a band of dotted circles placed at the level of the saddle.
This horse probably comes from an ancient pyxis, similar to the horse housed in the Pomerance Collection of the Brooklyn Museum.

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