Luristan Bronze Finial

£ 595.00

A cast bronze finial featuring two rampant horse heads. They are conflated at the neck, and cast integral with cylindrical tube giving way to a hollow, bell-shaped support.

Date: Circa 8th Century BC
Period: Iron Age
Condition: Excellent condition.

SOLD

Small pairs of animals are the most distinctive objects of all cast bronze works reported from Luristan. Finials were made to be seen either from the back or front, which suggests that they were designed to be free-standing.

Finials of this kind were made by the lost-wax process, whereby a duplicate metal sculpture was cast from an original wax model. In Mesopotamia, the lost-wax process was used for large scale copper and bronze statues. Each finial cast by the lost-wax process is unique.

To discover more about the Luristan Empire, please visit our relevant blog post: The Luristan Empire: Beauty of Bronze.

Weight 97 g
Dimensions H 10 cm
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Reference: For a similar item, Christie’s, Sale 3748, Lot 156.