Description:

Ancient Central Asia, modern day Pakistan / Afghanistan, Bactria, late 2nd to early 1st millennium BCE. A beautiful idol or ritual object of an interesting, very abstract anthropomorphic form. It features a long, columnar body that stands on a flat base. It abruptly tapers near the top to a narrow neck with a discoid head. The neck is drilled through horizontally, perhaps for suspension. It is made from a pale grey stone, hand-sculpted and smoothed, with white bands across its surface. Stone idols like this one are known in a variety of forms; however, their true meaning is unknown because there are no surviving written records that explicate how they were used. Were they used as objects of worship, commerce, torture, or everyday use? Whatever the case, this is a wonderful example from early Bactria! Size: 2.2" W x 24" H (5.6 cm x 61 cm)

Provenance: private Los Angeles, California, USA collection, 1980s-2000s

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#156089

  • Condition: Intact. Surface wear commensurate with age, including chips, nicks, and scratches. There is wear around the openings of the piercing through the neck and rich deposits on the surface.

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July 1, 2020 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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