A SMALL GILT-BRONZE BRIDLE ORNAMENT

CIRCA 3RD CENTURY BC

Details

A SMALL GILT-BRONZE BRIDLE ORNAMENT
CIRCA 3RD CENTURY BC
The ornament is cast with two recumbent ibex flanking a frontal tiger head cast in high relief. A narrow attachment strap on the reverse spans the concave area behind the head. A woven pattern on the reverse indicates manufacture by the lost wax/lost textile process.
2 in. (5 cm.) long

Provenance

Private collection, Paris; Hôtel Drouot-Richelieu, 18 October 1996.
The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida.

Lot Essay

Two small bronze harness ornaments of this type are illustrated by E. C. Bunker et al., Ancient Bronzes of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York, 1997, p. 216, no. 189, which also feature a frontal animal head cast in high relief between two recumbent animals.

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