Loading, please wait...
LOT 0214
Monumental Luristan Bronze Armband Pair with Dragon Heads
LATE 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
5 1/8 in. (1.19 kg total, 13-13.1 cm).
A matching pair of penannular armbands, each with a round-section body and dragon-head terminals, one terminal on each band separately made; the dragons with ring-and-dot eyes and linear decoration, slit mouths and flaring nostrils. [2]
ProvenanceEx London, UK gallery, 1971-early 2000s.
Private collection, London.
Bronze armbands of this scale and quality are characteristic of Luristan, an important centre of metal production in western Iran during the early 1st millennium B.C. The region is renowned for its distinctive cast bronzes, including weapons, horse trappings, and items of personal adornment, often decorated with powerful animal imagery. The dragon, with its elongated body and open jaws, was a common motif in Luristan art, symbolising strength, protection, and the supernatural. Armbands with dragon-head terminals likely carried an apotropaic function, serving both as impressive ornaments and as protective charms for the wearer. Monumental examples such as this pair are rare survivals, attesting to the high status of their original owner and the extraordinary skill of Luristan bronze workers.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
LOT 0214
Monumental Luristan Bronze Armband Pair with Dragon Heads
Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
-
Western Asiatic Silver Drinking Bowl
2nd-6th century A.D.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £180
Broad and squat in profile with repoussé basal ring; incised ring below the rim to the outer face. 169 grams, 16 cm
Acquired before the early 1970s. Ex London, UK, gallery. Private collection, London, UK. -
Mesopotamian Pink Stone Stamp Seal
Circa 4th millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Modelled as an elongated rhomb pierced lengthways; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Stamp seal of pink stone, 51 x 23 x 10 mm,, [sic] an elongated rhomb, pierced lengthways. Design: criss-cross. Mesopotamia or Syria, c. 3500 B.C. Condition very good.' 13.8 grams, 52 mm
Previously in an old British collection formed in the 1960s. Ex 1990s London collections, having been studied and catalogued by professor Lambert in the early 1990s. Formerly with a Mayfair art dealer S.A. Property of a London gallery. Accompanied by an original scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert. -
Large Luristan Bronze 'Master of Animals' Bronze Finial
8th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
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. 916 grams total, 43 cm including stand
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.
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.
