Coarse-grained marble; height, 11 inches. The head was found wearing a bronze helmet, which, however, did not fit, and has been removed.
560. Cast of marble owl. L. Ross (Annali dell' Inst., 1841, pl. C., p. 25), supposes that this owl was a votive offering which once surmounted a column found near it, on which is inscribed the name of Timotheos of the deme Anaphlystos. The lower part of the body, which is broken away, has lately been found. The feathers of the wings are set in formal rows, and the treatment throughout is characterised by an archaic severity, as has been remarked by Ross. The feathers have probably been painted.—Found on the Athenian Acropolis between the Propylaea and the Parthenon.
The original, of Pentelic marble, is in the Acropolis Museum, at Athens; height, 2 feet 2 inches. Ross, Arch. Aufsätze, I., pl. 14, fig. 3, p. 205; Elgin Room Guide, II., No. G. 7; Wolters, No. 111; Le Bas, Mon. Fig., pl. 62, fig. 3.
GREEK RELIEFS.
Most of the single Greek reliefs in the British Museum are described in the present section of the catalogue (Nos. 599-817.) Those reliefs which are known to have belonged to particular buildings, and to have served an architectural function, are catalogued separately. A few reliefs also, principally of the later Attic School, are reserved for a subsequent part.
We deal, in this place, with a number of works of minor importance, and of various degrees of artistic merit. At the same time they are of interest both for their subjects and also as showing the instinctive grace and skill of subordinate Greek craftsmen, even in hastily executed and unimportant work.
The following classification has been adopted, but the classes are not perfectly distinct, as the sepulchral reliefs sometimes partake of a votive character.
Sepulchral Reliefs.—599-618, Decorative Stelae. 619-680, Scenes from Daily Life and Animals. 681-686, Plain Vases. 687-710, Vases and reliefs with figures clasping hands. 711-746, Sepulchral Banquets, &c. 750-757, Rider and Horse, heroified. 760-766, Reliefs from Lycia.
Votive Reliefs.—770-794, Figures of the God or his attributes. 795-812, Figures of the Dedicator, or of the object dedicated. 813-817, Agonistic reliefs.