LOT 0189

Western Asiatic Bronze Zoomorphic Cauldron

HASANLU IV, CIRCA 10TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.

9 1/4 in. (679 grams, 23.5 cm wide).

A bronze calotte-shaped cauldron or basin with collared rectangular handles featuring scalloped grips along the upper edges, a pair of stylised bird of prey protomes beneath each, talons drawn up to their chests, bulging eyes, prominent hooked beaks, wings spread and fan-shaped tails.

Ex Maurice Braham, 1970s.
London collection, 1990s.

Accompanied by previous typed and illustrated catalogue pages.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11640-199105.

Cf. Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met, New York, 1988, pp.27-28, for broad parallels; see Li, H.D., Reconstructing the Elite Identity of Etruscan 'Princely' Tumuli from The Archaic to the Orientalizing Period, 2017, pp.50-53, for metallurgical discussion; see Riva, C., The Urbanisation of Etruria: Funerary Practices and Social Change, 700-600 B.C. CUP, 2014, pp.141-176, for discussion of such cauldrons in Etruscan burial contexts.

A rare object. The limited number of parallels feature birds of a more schematic style. Only four published parallel cauldrons with bird protomes are known to exist. Given the quality of the ornament, such basis may have been used by members of the elite in Iron Age Iranian society, although their exact functions remains unclear. One 'orientalised' Etruscan bronze cauldron was found used as a cremation vessel, placed in a tumulus and associated with a localised 'heroic' burial context. Other feasible uses include high status drinking vessels or symbols of rank.