LOT 0252

Neo-Assyrian Bronze Horse Trapping with Eagle-Headed God Nisroch and Winged Supernatural Figures

9TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.

33 1/4 in. (3.75 kg total, 59 cm including stand).

The left side of a trapping for a horse pulling a chariot, comprising two hammered elements with a hinge; rectangular upper section with a loop to one end, decorated with an eagle-headed genius-demon, wearing a tunic and a fringed kilt, a shawl wrapped around the body, hanging down on the back, carrying a bucket of purifying water in his right hand and a conical pot of incense in his left hand, bracelets to arms, two rows of lotus buds above; the discoid lower section divided in two registers, each with a winged genii in combat with winged bulls; the dividing raised band with fish motifs similar to the border formed of fish; the edges of both elements with punched edges for the attachment of leather lining; Neo-Assyrian or Urartian; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Acquired in the 1960s.
Ex private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent in 1996.

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.11780-205646.

Cf. Born, H., Seidl, U., Schutzwaffen aus Assyrien und Urartu, Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Mainz, 1995; Brereton, G., 'I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria', catalogue of the exhibition, London, 2018, p.146, no.155; for an example of the presence of a bucket in Urartian decorative arts and a similar depiction of Assyrian eagle-headed demon, see Aruz, J., Graff S. B. and Rakic Y. (eds.), Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age, New York, 2014, pp.89, 91-92 fig.2.17, cat.no.35a; for examples of the similarities between the Assyrian apkallu and Urartian spirits and deities, see two wall reliefs from Nimrud at the British Museum (inv. nos. 124561 & 102487).

These pieces of horse armour, destined to be the lateral protection for horses, were usually fixed at the four corners of the yoke (Connolly, 1986, p.17). Sometimes these side pendants provided protection for the upper part of horse's legs. Drawings and reconstructions of an Urartian chariot compiled from archaeological evidence shows the likely positioning on the shoulder of the horse (Gorelik, 1995, p.4). They served to protect the horse and also as symbols of divine protection. Similar pieces are visible on Assyrian reliefs (Born-Seidl, 1995, figs.53-54, relief from Nimrod; 62, from Assur; Curtis, 2013, pl.LXXV; Dezső, 2012, pl.12-13).