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_900x900.jpg "Luristan Bronze Horse Bit Cheek-Pieces Modelled as Winged Gryphons")
_200x200.jpg "Luristan Bronze Horse Bit Cheek-Pieces Modelled as Winged Gryphons")
.jpg "Luristan Bronze Horse Bit Cheek-Pieces Modelled as Winged Gryphons")
LOT 0221
Luristan Bronze Horse Bit Cheek-Pieces Modelled as Winged Gryphons
8TH–7TH CENTURY B.C.
4 1/8 - 4 1/4 in. (10 1/4 in.) (423 grams total, 10.4-10.7 cm (1.07 kg total, 26 cm wide including stand)).
Comprising a matched pair of cheek-pieces, each a winged gryphon standing on a baseline with head turned to face the viewer, curled tail to rump, lateral horns to the brow; pierced at the shoulder to accept the bit; mounted on a custom-made stand. [2]
ProvenanceA.P. family collection, Europe, from 1969, partly transferred to the United Kingdom in 1981.
London art market, after 2000.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12975-245210.
Cf. similar in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession no.32.161.24.
FootnotesHorse equipment was an important symbol of status and power in the Iron Age Near East. Elaborate bits with decorated cheek-pieces were not only practical items for controlling horses but also served a display function, reflecting the wealth and rank of their owners. The sphinx, a creature combining human and animal features, was a common protective figure in the art of the period. Winged sphinxes, in particular, were associated with divine guardianship and the protection of rulers and warriors. The use of such imagery on horse gear underscored the prestige of cavalry and chariotry in the 8th–7th century BCE, when mounted warfare played a central role in the expansion of Near Eastern empires.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0221
Luristan Bronze Horse Bit Cheek-Pieces Modelled as Winged Gryphons
Estimate £2,500 - 3,500€2,900 - 4,060 (for guidance only)$3,380 - 4,730 (for guidance only)
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South Arabian Alabaster Plaque with Bull's Head
3rd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Comprising a square panel with a bull's head in low-relief, striated eyes and flaring nostrils, a thick tuft of hair arranged between the eyes, shallow acanthus leaf between curved horns, inscription on the rectangular space at the bottom of the panel; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 2.09 kg total, 19.8 cm including stand
UK collection, 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000. Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman.
The presence of these representations in South Arabian cemeteries attests to the importance of the bull in the religious iconography of pre-Islamic Arabia. -
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Bactrian Gold Coiled Wire Necklace with Pendant
3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
Tightly-coiled wire band with graduated profile, domed disc closure with repoussé central boss and pellets to the rim, pendant formed as a rectangular frame enclosing two fusiform banded agate and another fusiform bead, barrel-shaped gold collars and coiled wire finials. 37.20 grams, 66 cm
with Ancient and Islamic Art Ltd, 1993. Private European collection, early 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate no.12597-232360.
In Old Bactria there are a number of necklaces with compartmented chlorite rosettes containing settings in lapis lazuli, cornelian, and turquoise, which seem to indicate a tradition of purely local taste; together with these should be considered other examples in twisted gold lamina, like our example, with pendants in gold or in semi-precious stones such as rock crystal. -
Sumerian Bone Cylinder Seal
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
With frieze in two registers depicting running animals, facing figure with arms raised and other items; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 4.42 grams, 24 mm
Ex 'S' collection, London, UK. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
