figure (ritual & belief: representations)

Gandharan, terracotta figure of a horse. The figure is broken and has no legs.

A horse figurine, in coarse red terracotta with traces of a dark red slip. The front legs are lost as well as the entire hindquarters. The horse has a high prominent mane over an energetically arched neck. The eyes are punched pinholes, the mouth a plain slit in a blunt muzzle. The ears appear to be luted on and they frame what seems to be a short fan-like projection at the top of the head. There is every likelihood that this horse may have had a rider in the usual way of such figurines (see nn17497 here for a similar horse and nn3707.1 for a possible rider for them). Marked on the underside with ‘PH’, a Gordon site designation not at this time clearly identifiable. The ‘Map of Western Gandhara’ accompanying this collection shows that there is a site called ‘Parkho Dheri’, in the hill region pierced by the Mardan-Malakand road, but there is no reason to think that PH and this site are one and the same. Archaeological context: presumably unstratified and from a surface collection. Early Historic Period, probably late centuries BCE/early centuries CE. Given by Col. D H Gordon (1952/3).

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk