An Attic black-figure amphora (Type B)
Related to the Circle of the Swing Painter, circa 550-525 B.C.
Side A with two mounted warriors carrying spears, the horses facing frontally, one rider wearing a plumed helmet, the other with a pilos, side B with two riders, one figure wearing a Scythian cap, the other with a plumed helmet, a band of ivy above each scene, three red bands around the neck with four running beneath each scene encircling the lower belly, a band of rays above the foot, details incised and in added red, 35.5cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
with Galerie Arete, Zurich.
Private collection, London, acquired from the above 28 February 1980.
For similar treatment of the ivy band, see Beazley Archive no. 340557, attributed to the Swing Painter.
The ancient Greeks domesticated the horse around the 4th Millennium B.C. and they were quickly bred to take on a variety of tasks. To own a horse in ancient Greece was to be part of the second highest class in Greek society and gave the owner the privilege of joining the cavalry. The cavalry became an important part of the Greek military from the middle of the 5th Century B.C. onwards, with great pride being taken by the soldiers over the care and stock of their horses. Xenophon wrote two books on the importance of the horse to ancient Greeks: On Horsemanship and The Cavalry Commander (Hipparchikos).