Western Asiatic Marble Ibex Head with Painted Eyes and Remains of Original Pigment

MID 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

9 1/8 in. (1.4 kg total, 23.2 cm high including stand).

Carved in the round with fine facial detailing; flaring nostrils and deep-set mouth, beard beneath the chin; inlaid eyes with raised black lids framing the large pupils, curving horns with ribbed detailing picked out in black pigment; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Provenance

Acquired on the London art market, 1993.
Property of a gentleman.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12069-214290.

Literature

Cf. Shepperd, D.G., ‘A bronze sculpture from Iran’ in The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 48, no.10 (Dec 1961), pp.255-258, figs. 1, 4, 5, for similar ibexes in metal.

Footnotes

In Mesopotamian art, wild sheep, ibexes, gazelles, antelopes, and goats of various species are frequently represented in art from the earliest times until the Parthian period.

CONDITION

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LOT 0257