Luristan Bronze Horse Bit with Animals

CIRCA 11TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.

6 7/8 in. (690 grams, 17.5 cm wide).

Comprising a pair of ram-shaped cheek-pieces with a hole through the body for the straight mouthpiece with looped terminals.

Provenance

From a collection formed in Paris in the 1990s.

Literature

Cf. similar horsebits in Moorey, P.R.S., Ancient Bronzes from Luristan, London, 1974, pls.VI-VII; Musee' Cernuschi, Bronzes de Luristan, enigmes de l'Iran Ancien, IIIe-Ier millenaire av. J.C., Paris, 2008, pp.110ff, nos.68ff, for similar types.

Footnotes

The horse bits were transformed by Luristan people in to expressions of applied art. Metalworkers employed animal motifs, both realistic and imaginary, for their cheek-pieces. The question of whether these horse bits were for real use or only for use in a funerary context is superfluous, as signs of wear have been documented, and the goads and loops on interiors are functionally designed. The use of such horse bits is clearly documented in Assyrian reliefs of the time of Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.).

CONDITION

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LOT 1407