THE ARCHER WITH TWO BOWS

THE ARCHER WITH TWO BOWS

A personal understanding.

510 BCE. From Vulci. British Museum.

Original painting is placed in a full circle.

At the British Museum there is a ceramic plate that depicts an archer with two Scythian bows. The plate is dated 510 BCE. The archer also inspects an arrow. (Photo 1)

                                      Photo 1

                                    Archer with two bows. 510 BCE. From Vulci. British Museum.

The arrow has small round shaped feathers and the nock is of the swift tail type (Photo 2).

                                   Photo 2 

The archer is a combatant with an open faced and earhole helmet for good visibility and hearing and is of the  Illyrian or Attic  type with a crest. He has no armour but a commonly designed quiver with a soft cloth or leather covering  is suspended by a strap from the right shoulder over to his left side.

One bow is strapped  on the quiver and the other is in front of him and somehow it looks that it is supported on his left arm. Both bows are armed.

Looking at the painting we can possibly assume that the archer inspects one of his  arrows or maybe his last (the quiver is covered)  before he shoots it with the bow that is in front of him and  is in a ready position to be picked up and used. 

Strangely enough the archer is looking in to the far distance which possibly indicates that the inspection of the arrow has just finished and he has started looking at his target. 

The archer is knelt down, in the classic fighting position. He is barefoot, a classic heroic interpretation seen on Hellenic pottery.  

This is an unusual depiction (also another one older of  Herakles- Photo 3) of an archer of the period with two  bows and the question is why.

                                               Photo 3
                     575-550 BCE. Corinthian red-ground crater. Heracles rescues Hesione from the Ketos.

Is the second bow a spare one  or are the two bows for different applications i.e. different type of arrows, distance or impact.
One bow looks bigger than the other but also the artistic licence of the artist has to be taken in to consideration. He had to place his painting in a perfect circle, a harmonious arrangement. 
The perspective here is at an angle because the plate was exhibited very high up at the British Museum and there was no way anyone would allow me to remove it from the glass cabinet display. 

But still,  is it a decorative piece, a commemoration of a specific battle or for a person that has been  lost in a battle?
What is the message here?  Perhaps “The last arrow counts”, but it also indicates that the archer has the technical knowledge that requires him to inspect the quality and effectiveness of the arrows. It  almost suggests that the archer is fully aware about arrow making and what to look for in the best quality. In order to inspect you have to have the knowledge of making it. 

This kind of iconography has appeared on other  images of the same Late Archaic period (Photo 4), including a ring shield. It is like a “fashionable” trend that brings archery to public attention. It is presented as skilful,  honourable,   and becomes acceptable by Hellenes who regarded archery as not a “fair way” of fighting.

                                               

                                   Photo 4

                                   Left:   520-510 BCE >Drinking cup (kylix)

                                   Hellenic archer inspecting arrow.
                                   • Greek, Late Archaic Period
                                   • the Carpenter Painter,
                                   PLACE OF MANUFACTURE :Athens, Attica, Greece

                                   DIMENSIONS: Height: 17.4 cm (6 7/8 in.); diameter 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.)
                                          Right:  Period: Archaic Date: ca. 500 B.C.E. Culture: Greek Medium: Chalcedony 

                                   Dimensions:   length 11/16 in.   (1.7 cm) Classification: Gems. Archer testing arrow.

So, is it something to do with Scythian archers serving the state during the Pisistratid tyranny in Athens 561 - 510 BCE and the necessities of new ways of fighting?

Perhaps the archer is  a Hellene from an elite family - looking at his elaborate helmet, and two bows could be an officer (Toxarhis)-who has been trained in archery from Scythian archers and their bows and he is just practising !

Well, I think the curious element here is the two bows. 

There are not any written manuals about archers’ fighting techniques or tactics from this period. Perhaps this image is trying to say to us that some archers used two bows for different jobs. Maybe a well trained elite. The helmet has an earhole for  good hearing. Is this an indication of a well commanded unit?

Many questions and the answer is as always, with the artist who painted.

One thing we have to consider is that an image like this is a cultural icon and is connected with the physical world of the time.

Thank you.