Description:

Central Asia, Bactria (Bactria Margiana/BMAC), ca. 2nd millennium BCE. A cast bronze axe head with a cylindrical socket decorated with a projecting bird's head and tail feathers. The axe head projects from the side opposite to the bird head, shooting out from a thin, zoomorphic head and mouth in a wide, crescent-shaped curve. The socket has lightly raised rings around its body. The shape of the blade is similar to examples from the ancient Near Eastern Kingdom of Elam and Iranian Luristan, while the blade emerging from the jaws of a fantastical beast recalls one found at Susa in the lower Zagros Mountains. Size: 5.25" L x .875" W (13.3 cm x 2.2 cm)

If this item is similar to those made in Elam and Luristan, then it was never intended to be used in war, but was rather a mark of rank - the insignia of a high official or monarch. For example, axes and hammers were given to elites by Elamite monarchs, a practice that we know spread to Kerman (eastern Iran) and then Bactria by ca. 2000 BCE.

See a similar example at the Louvre (AO 24799): http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/ceremonial-ax-head-flared-blade-decorated-head-camel-or-horse-winged-heel

Provenance: private J. Connell collection, Massachusetts, USA; ex Sue McGovern collection

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#127396

  • Condition: Light encrustation on surface. Tiny area of loss along lower blade edge, but otherwise form is excellent, with very well preserved details.

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October 12, 2017 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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