Lot 76
76
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A BACTRIAN CAMEL
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A BACTRIAN CAMEL
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THE VIDAL GOLD HOARD (lots 75 - 84)PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF NICOLAS KOTOULAKIS
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A BACTRIAN CAMEL

IRAN, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A BACTRIAN CAMEL
IRAN, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.
3 7/8 in. (8.9 cm.) long
Provenance
Reputedly excavated in Hamadan, Iran in 1920.
Maurice Vidal collection, New York, prior to July 1948.
Literature
A. Upham Pope, 'Recently Found Treasures of one of the World’s First and Greatest Empires: Achaemenid Gold Objects', in Illustrated London News, 17 July 1948, pp. 57-59 (frontispiece illustration).
Iran: pièces du Musée de Téhéran, du Musée du Louvre et de collections particulières, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 1948, pp. 38 & 39, no. 64.
M. T. Mustafavi, The Historical Monuments of Hamadan and a Chapter concerning Avicenna, Teheran, 1953, pp. 140-141.
H. J. Kantor, 'Achaemenid Jewelry in the Oriental Institute', in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, 1957, p. 18, footnote 94.
R. Ghirshman, Persia: from the origins to Alexander the Great, London, 1964, p. 261, no. 317.
Exhibited
Musée Cernuschi, Paris, Iran: pièces du Musée de Téhéran, du Musée du Louvre et de collections particulières, 23-31 July 1948.
Further details
US clients wishing to buy this lot, and any persons wishing to import it into the USA, should contact Christie’s prior to placing a bid. Due to current Iranian sanctions, transactions involving certain Iranian-origin property may require authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to be shipped to the USA. Christie’s has an OFAC General License that enables these imports, subject to certain conditions and disclosures to OFAC. Please contact Christie’s for further information.

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Lot Essay

Depictions of camels are fairly rare in Achaemenid art. A fragmentary sheet gold votive from the Oxus treasure at the British Museum preserves the forepart of one (no. 257 in Curtis and Tallis, Forgotten Empire, The World of Ancient Persia); see also the Greco-Persian chalcedony scaraboid, also in London, depicting a Bactrian camel (no. 901 in Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings). The naturalistically modelled Bactrian camel is without precedent, contrasting to the staid line of camels seen in the Persepolis friezes (see plate XXXVIII in 'Camels at Persepolis', in Antiquity, vol. 52, no. 206, 228-231).

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