LOT 0217

Large Luristan Bronze 'Master of Animals' Bronze Finial

8TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.

17 in. (916 grams total, 43 cm including stand).

Formed as a Master of Animals atop a collared tubular stem with flared foot; the finial composed of two goats with heads returned and a looped band at the rump, above these two birds standing looking up towards two quadrupeds each with a bird's head on the rump; each in the grip of the Master standing crowned between them; the Master with tubular body, animal-like ears, prominent nose above a small mouth and wearing collars, neck rings and tiered headdress with addorsed bovine heads; waisted socket below and flared dentilled rim; mounted on a display stand. [No Reserve]

Acquired in Iran, 1967.
Private collection, UK.

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 a search certificate number no.12824-241323.

Cf. Godard, F., The Art of Iran, London, 1965, fig.19, for similar; Chausidis, N., Luristan Standards, iconography semiotics and purpose, Skopje, 2022, p.10, for similar and figs. nos.B11 fig.4, C16 nos.4-5, C17-C20, C32.

The “Master of Animals” is a long-lived Near Eastern motif showing a central figure—human, heroic or divine—grasping two confronting beasts, usually by their necks or forelegs. First seen in late 4th–3rd millennium BC Mesopotamian seals, it spread across Iran, Anatolia and the Levant and remained current into the 1st millennium BC. Its meaning is straightforward and powerful: control over the wild, the protection of order, and the sanction of royal or divine authority. The image appears on seals, plaques and weapons, and in the round on bronze fittings and finials (notably in Luristan), where it likely marked status and carried an apotropaic force. For collectors, the type is prized for its clear silhouette and economy of form, the instant legibility of a hero mastering chaos, a theme as old as the first cities and as compelling today.