Urartu was once known as a powerful kingdom, involved with numerous warfare’s with the Assyrian Empire in the first millennium B.C. The civilisation extended in the area between the Black sea and the Caspian Sea, approximately in today’s Armenia. Urartian bronze artworks are credited for their abstract yet aesthetic forms and realistic depictions on zoomorphic representations. Metalworkers would cut, cast, emboss, engrave and inlay metal to produce such ornate goods such as jewellery, helmets, seals, horse bits, figurines and belt terminals, such as this fine example. Motifs of lions, birds, bulls and composite creatures were favoured by local artists, which possibly suggests that animals were depicted as a conventional companion of the worshipped deities. They symbolisied power and divinity within traditional Urartian religious realms.
Urartian Belt Terminal in the Form of a Composite Creature
$10,634.57
A Uratain bronze belt terminal in the form of a composite creature, featuring an ornately clothed human torso and shoulders, with the arms folded and the hands touching back to back. The body leads to a thick furry neck and a head shaped like a lion. The face displays a snarled expression baring sharp teeth and curved horns. The zoomorphic creature features a large wing carefully rendered with long thin feathers. Two strong asymmetrical outstretched legs are presented below and the body ends in a large fish tail covered in detailed crescent shaped scales. Each part of the creature has been delicately executed with incised detailing emphasising the different animals. To the reverse, the terminal is smooth except for a small pin used for attaching the piece to a belt behind the creatures elbow.
Condition: Excellent Condition, parts of the leg, wing and fish tail are now missing.
In stock
| Weight | 29.5 g |
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| Dimensions | L 10.8 x W 8.0 cm |
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