Lot 82
LURISTAN BRONZE “MASTER OF ANIMALS” FIGURE
WESTERN ASIA, 800 – 600 B.C.
Antiquities and African & Oceanic Art
Auction: Antiquities - 31 July 2024 at 2pm
Description
bronze, the Janus figure wearing a rounded cap, with anthropomorphic facial features the legs of a beast, flanked at either side by leopards, perforated through the centre and raised on a bespoke mount
Dimensions
14.4cm high
Provenance
Provenance:
The Paul Strickland collection of Lorestan art, acquired Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, London, 8th December 1975
Footnote
Note:
The motif depicted here of an anthropomorphic figure standing between and grasping two confronted animals is a particularly ancient one. Known as The Master of Animals, it likely represented a deity or talismanic figure with dominion over nature. The Master of Animals appeared throughout the ancient Near East and Egypt for thousands of years, with its roots sitting deep in prehistory. The earliest known example appears on a terracotta stamp seal excavated in southern Mesopotamia dated to c. 4000 B.C.
The initial emergence of this motif at the time and place of the very first agricultural societies is likely not coincidental. It reflects the seminal change in our relationship with nature, from hunter gatherer to farmer. The desire to operate above, rather than within the natural world.
For similar please see: The British Museum, London, accession number 108817