Horse tripods from central Italy

Abstract

Horse tripods are small, bronze basin-supporting objects found in rieh graves of central Italy, mainly Vetulonia and Verucchio in the north and Capua in the south, between the late 8th Century until 650/640 BC. The systematic analysis of the assemblage allows the assignment to two main workshops, Vetulonia and Veji. Tripods of the Vetulonian workshop are characterised by a short tail-bearing horse, a slightly swinging connecting element between the mouth of the horse and the knee of the stand suggesting stylised bridles, bird motifs at least on some of the tripods, and Stands in form of human legs. Tripods of the workshop from Veji are all riderless and the horses have long tails.