CC0 · no rights reserved
Mule-Head Attachment for a Couch
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This bronze attachment in the shape of a mule’s head was once part of a fulcrum (armrest) for a banqueting couch. The mule’s mane flies upward, its mouth open and its ears pushed back against its head. The mule wears an ivy garland and a saddlecloth made from panther skin, two elements associated with the wine god Dionysos.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMule-Head Attachment for a Couch, 200–100 BCE. Greece, Hellenistic period. Bronze; overall: 20.4 x 18.3 cm (8 1/16 x 7 3/16 in.); with base: 25.4 cm (10 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1943.68
