CULTURE / REGION OF ORIGIN: Luristan (western Iran) or Northwest Iran .
DATE:  Early Iron Age, 10th – 7th Century BCE
DIMENSIONS:  12.7 cm (5.0 in.) long, 8.9 cm (3.5 in.) tall.

DESCRIPTION: A Luristan plaque or appliqué of a stylized horse in thin sheet bronze, possibly intended for attachment to a larger object in another material such as wood, leather or fabric. The high arching neck is connected to a figure eight shaped body. The tail loops over the back and toward the neck. The simplified legs point almost straight forward and have hooks for hooves. A row of ten pointed spikes rises from the neck to indicate the mane. The shoulder and hind quarters are decorated with repousse concentric circles, and the neck is decorated with repousse parallel bands. There is a clean break in the animal’s center, another half way through the tail, and a partial break on the head. One spike is missing from the mane, as is part of one back leg and most of the other. The patina is a thick, slightly rough dark green with small patches of lighter green and brown and small traces of adhering soil. Currently securely mounted with nylon string on thick white painted fiber board.

PROVENANCE: Formerly in an old Scandinavian family collection, formed between 1890 and 1940, mostly by Professor Richard Tackholm (1865-1937), who bought pieces in Paris and London around 1900, some from the Hilton-Price Collection and others as gifts from friends like Sir William Flinders Petrie. Others were acquired by his relative, a Swedish Professor of Botany, Vivi Laurent-Tackholm, who lived in Cairo, 1923-1978. Inherited from Professor Tackholm by Mrs. Elsa Berglund (1903-1979), a relative of the most recent owner’s grandfather.

PUBLISHED: Bonhams, ANTIQUITIES, 13 October, 2006, London, page 53, illustrated in color on page 54

COMPARISONS: Exhibition Catalogue, Habib Anavian Collection, Iranian Art from the 5th Millennium BC - 7th Century AD, New York, 1977, for a related stylized horse plaque. Also, Art of the Ancient World, Volume XIV, Royal Athena Galleries, New York, 2003, # 223 for a nearly identical stylized horse plaque or appliqué.