Achaemenid Decorated Bronze Flower Finials

Discoid with three lines of impressed text. 1.51 grams, 17 mm



Collected from 1970-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK.

A finely hammered bowl, the surface punched with vegetal and zoomorphic decoration comprising standing rams or mouflons enclosed within a circle, spear-shaped leaves separating the figures, low foot; the engraving possibly later. 800 grams, 37 cm wide



UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12169-220737.

The plate exhibits a typical hammered form, and was probably reinforced with an organic base. The subject of the decoration, rams or mouflons with the head facing right or left, is a theme found on Sassanid art and is also visible on a decorated silver and gilt vessel of the Sackler Gallery collection (Gunter, Jett, no.21). Decoration in the form of such animal enclosed in a medallion appears in the central exterior roundel of a silver bowl in the Detroit Institute of Arts (Grabar, 1967, p.125, no.41).

With a tapering round-section shank, finial topped with a ram's head. 110 grams, 16.5 cm



From the collection of late George Withers, UK. Acquired from Dore and Rees, UK. Property of Mr A.B., an American collector.

The corpus of pins from Hasanlu includes simple plain pins, pins with lion's head and other zoomorphic pins. The zoomorphic pins were either cast onto a bronze shank or the pin was inserted into a hollow of the head. A third category was that of the pins cast in one piece, like our specimen, representing a goat or mouflon, an animal often depicted in the North-West Persian material culture.