A Luristan bronze pendant figurine of a goat or ibex

A Luristan bronze pendant figurine of a goat or ibex

Code: 2666

£160.00

Description: A bronze pendant figurine in the form of a long-horned ibex or goat passant with a dark green, almost black patina. The horns striated and with a loop for suspension. Complete and condition good and an appealing example with large circular striated eyes.

Size: 36 mm/1.4 ins. in length and 44 mm/1.7 ins. high

Culture: Luristan, North West Iran

Date: 12th - 8th Century B.C.

Provenance: Acquired by Eric Crowe (1905-1952), son of the diplomat Sir Eyre Crowe (1864-1925), when he was posted to Tehran as a British diplomat between 1939-41 and thence by descent to Sir Brian Crowe (1938-2020).

Background: Eric Crowe followed his father Sir Eyre Crowe (a leading diplomat who strongly advocated a counter-German policy in the years before World War I) into the diplomatic service and served in Tehran in the early years of World War II where he acquired this piece. His son Sir Brian Crowe was Ambassador to Austria from 1989–1992 but died of COVID-19 in March 2020.

References: Compare No. 422, Plate 65, in Moorey P.R.S. 1971. Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum, Clarenden Press, Oxford, for a similar example.