Description:

Ancient Near East, Luristan, modern-day Iran, ca. 1000 to 600 BCE. A wonderful pair of copper mace heads from ancient Luristan. The larger of the 2 features a slender tubular shaft with a vertically grooved, almost melon-form head and horizontally ribbed ends. Alternatively, the more petite cudgel displays a swollen bulb flanked by ribbed collars and flanges to the socket. Ancient Luristan was a series of parallel fertile valleys in northwestern Iran in the Zagros Mountains. The level of artistry displayed in their bronze work is much finer and more ornate than any of their contemporaries. This is all the more remarkable considering that there is a lack of native copper ores in that region, so Luristan must have been part of a wide trading network -- and indeed, we know that they had contacts with the Kingdom of Elam, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. There must have been a particularly inspired artistic tradition within Luristan itself to produce functional but beautiful items like this pair. Size of larger: 6" L x 1.8" W (15.2 cm x 4.6 cm)

Provenance: private Everett, Massachusetts, USA collection; larger mace head: ex-Heartland Artifact Auctions Inc., Quincy, Illinois, USA, February 16, 2020, lot 287P; more petite mace head: ex-Timeline Auctions Ltd., London, United Kingdom, February 23, 2017, lot 1909; ex-London, United Kingdom collection, acquired in the 1970s

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#183109

  • Condition: Both have been professionally repaired and restored with expected nicks and abrasions to surface as shown. Minor perforation to flared end of larger. Rich patina and earthen encrustations to both.

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February 9, 2024 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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