Description:
A bronze axe head with a curved blade and a moulded ridge edging the long sides of the blade, indicating the the axe head may not have been functional but rather ceremonial or votive. The shaft is decorated with four linear bands that continue as spiked projections.
Literature and parallels:
Nicholas Engel et al. (eds.), Bronzes du Luristan, Enigmes de l'Iran ancien, IIIe-Ier millénaire av. J.-C. Catalogue de l'exposition, Musée Cernuschi, Musée des Arts de l'Asie de la Ville de Paris, 4 mars-22 juin 2008 (Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 2008), p. 95-98, nos. 39-47;
Houshang Mahboubian, The Art of Ancient Iran: Copper and Bronze (London, Philip Wilson Publishers, 1997), p. 174-179, nos. 185-188, 191-194, 196;
Eric de Waele, Bronzes du Luristan et d'Amlash, ancienne collection Godard (Louvain-la-Neuve, Institut supérieur d'archeologie et d'histoire de l'art, 1982), p. 24-27, nos. 16-20.
Dating:
Luristan, early first millennium B.C.
Size:
Length 18.5 cm maximum.
Provenance:
Dutch private collection of Dr. and Mrs. Van Roozendaal, acquired prior to 1989; thence by descent; thereafter Dutch private collection.
Condition:
Intact with no visible sign of repair of restoration; the surface has been cleaned, with some light scratching and some encrustation remaining; the surface has a green patina with some patches of red cuprite showing; the areas between the spiked projections, which are often free standing, partly filled with bronze, spilled during the casting process; a small hole on the shaft, possibly a small casting flaw, or intended to fix the blade to the handle. On a custom made metal stand.
Price:
€ 2,400
Stock number:
A1306