Bronze conical vessel on flat base, with
short
flattened rectangular section rim.
Minute geometrical motif of square
indentations
around the base.
Encompassed between the slightly
projecting rim
and a zone of triangular motifs, register of
figures
in low-relief.
The architectural element of single Doric
column
denotes that the scenes on the column’s
right
side
(thus the viewer’s left) is taking place
indoors, in
opposition to the scenes occuring on the
column’s
left side (thus the viewer’s right), which are
apparently happening on the outside.
The violent battle scene, obviously
happening
outdoors, is composed by two main
characters,
both
on horses, overpowering a number of
opponents.
The rider on the extreme is approaching in
rapid
movement as indicated by the detail of the
flowing
drapery, holding with his right a rather long
spear. A
helmeted opponents is already lying dead
under
the
horse’s hoof, while the rider opposite, who
is
going
to sustain the impact of his attack is turning
his
head in appeal to his companions, probably
in
vain.
One of these is holding a spear and a small
round
shield but both him and his fellow soldier
don’t
seem to be showing any signs of
movement,
while a
third person is carrying a wounded fellow
soldier
with his right hand and a small round shield
with
his
left. The battle scene comes to a conclusion
by
the
segment of another rider, represented in
heroic
nudity and brandishing a spear in his right
hand;
having already overrun an opponent who is
lying
under the horse’s hoofs he is going to
deliver a
direct blow to the person opposite who is
taking
cover behind a large round shield. The last
person
of this section is a figure in helmet and
armed by
shield and spear, fleeing away.
The next segment comprises a biga, with
the
charioteer holding the reins of the horses
and the
protagonist receiving what could be
interpreted
as a
gesture of complete surrender by a
crouching
warrior, as indicated by the spear he is
holding
and
the shield on which he is leaning. The figure
of a
rider in profile to the right, proceeding the
biga
and
characterised by the detail of the flowing
drapery, is
to be associated to this same segment of
the
events,
as a person who is leading the triumphal
procession
of the potentate in the biga.
An attractively crafted ten-petal rosette
could
possibly allude to an Oriental provenance,
while
filling the space above the horse’s heads.
The sequence of the events culminate and
finish
with an indoors scene, the aftermath of the
battle,
the formal surrender ceremony perhaps
taking
place
within a palace, where a person seated on a
throne
and holding a spear is receiving an unarmed
figure
genuflecting on one knee in the presence of
another
figure standing behind the throne in
attendance
and
in the standard military apparatus of helmet,
shield
and spear.
A series of five semicircular elements of
diverse
dimensions interspersed among the figures
could
be an allusion to the sun, indicating that
these
scenes took place during various periods of
the
day
and under the direct presence of the sun, an
ocular
testimony of all the events.
All six horses throughout the length of the
register
are beautifully carved, well proportioned,
with
long
tales and meticulously executed manes and
hooves.
The vessel, more than anything else seems
to be
a
detailed documentation of ancient warfare.
The
battle scenes revoke the combat setting of
reliefs
and statuary of Greek and Roman antiquity,
both
for
the posture of the warriors and the
belligerent
theatrical gestures they indulge into. The
partnership of two male figures associated
in
battle
is an emblematic motif, perpetrated from
the
time
of the Homeric poems with Achilles and
Patroclus,
the Sacred Band of Thebes and
Hephaestion with
Alexander the Great.
There is no specific cultural or ethnic
indication
in
regards to the weaponry and attire of the
warriors.
Flowing drapery seems to be the indication
of a
long, tunic-like garment whereas several
figures
seem to be bare-chested. The type of
pleated
skirt
worn by some of the combatants on foot
could
allude to Egyptians and Sumerians,
although it
could
be just the artist’s idea of how to reproduce
an
“eastern” looking garment. Helmets adhere
more
or
less to a frugally adorned type, which
attaches
closely to the skull, without bearing any
specific
designative decoration; the same applies for
the
generic circular shields; the figure fighting in
heroic
nudity could be relevant to a completely
different
concept from the one used during the
period of
Classical antiquity.
The array of figures and horses, though
hugely
ambitious in concept has been engraved by
a
rather
mediocre artist, as determined by a certain
absence
of prospective and an undeniable rigidity in
the
movement of the figures, which have been
copied
abundantly from similarly-themed scenes,
but on
a
much reduced scale.
All the above details may allude towards a
provincial
workshop of the post-classical Near East.
Whether a ceremonial, commemorative or
votive
object, it still remains a remarkably
interesting
and
intriguing object, both for the aspiration and
enthusiasm of condensing such a complex
multifigured composition on such a small
object
as
well as for the identification of the incised
subject.
- (LM.63)
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