Preview
Alternative Title
Splendid Mane
Description
A small, two-tone grey ceramic horse figurine, with molded texture to represent realistic hair and musculature. It turns its head to the left and slightly downwards. The mane, forelock, tail and hooves are painted a contrasting dark grey, while the body is pale. Left ear is broken off. "China" is stamped underneath on abdomen.
50. Splendid Mane. The horse of the Gaelic water god, Manannan mac Lir (Manannan, son of the ocean), the patron of sailors, and lord of Emhain, “that land of many-colored hospitality,” which was the Celtic Hesperides, in the far West. Splendid Mane was reputed to carry its master alike about earth and upon the surface of the sea, “more swiftly than the winds of spring.”
Exhibit label:
SPLENDID MANE, THE HORSE OF MAHANNAN MAC LIR.
A gift from Madoc of Kett.
—"The Music from Behind the Moon" in the Witch-Woman.
Dimensions (Length x Width x Height in cm)
5 x 1 x 4
Personal Name Subject
Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958; Madog ab Owain Gwynedd, 1150-1180?
Topical Subject
Horses; Figurines; Horses--Folklore; Mythology, Celtic; Folklore--Wales
City/Location
Richmond (Va.)
Genre
figures (representations)
Type
Physical Object
Digital Format
image/jpg
Language
eng
Rights Statement URL
Rights
This material is protected by copyright, and copyright is held by VCU. You are permitted to use this material in any way that is permitted by copyright. In addition, this material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Acknowledgment of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is required.
Collection
James Branch Cabell Horse Figurine Collection
Source
Horse 50, Splendid Mane, James Branch Cabell Horse Figurine collection, M 377, Box 1, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
File Name
m377_i050.jpg