CIRCA MID 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.

Details

A TRANSCAUCASIAN BRONZE RATTLE STANDARD
CIRCA MID 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
In the form of a doe, standing on an integral plinth set into a vertical post topped with a biconical fenestrated hollow knob, with an anchor-shaped base, the doe with its forelegs straight and its hind legs bent beneath its elongated body, with a round rump and a short curving tail, a raised ridge at the base of the tapering neck, possibly indicating muscles, its face with a long thin muzzle, a prominent chin curl, and bulging circular eyes, its long straight ears pointed outward, with a linear opening running along the length of the underside of the torso, and an inverted V-shaped opening on each flank, two bronze pellets within
11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Morris J. Pinto, Geneva, 1990.

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Lot Essay

For a similar example from Armenia see no. 19 in Avetisian, et al., Au Pied du Mont Ararat: Splendeurs de L'Arménie Antique. As Farkas notes (p. 55 in Bunker, et al., "Animal Style" Art from East to West), animal standards such as this example were likely used as chariot mounts during the Late Bronze Age in Armenia. Originally, they would have been fastened at the point where the chariot pole joins the yoke. For a standard with an ibex, see no. 24, pp. 42 and 55 in Bunker, et al., op. cit.

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