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A SUMERIAN STYLE SILVER FIGURE OF A LION-DRAWN CHARIOT
奥地利
12月16日 晚上6点 开拍 /6天18小时
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Description

A SUMERIAN STYLE SILVER FIGURE OF A LION-DRAWN CHARIOT

Possibly Mesopotamian region of present-day Iraq, circa 2nd-1st millennium BC or later. The small two-wheeled chariot drawn by two majestic lions standing foursquare, guided by a man who firmly holds the reins of the animals, which grasp the bit in their jaws. Behind the charioteer, a man and a woman are seated on the carriage bench, both attired in diaphanous garments that leave the upper part of their bodies exposed. Their faces rendered with stylized features, including elongated eyes and prominent noses, while their wavy hair delicately arranged.

Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum, acquired in Islamabad, Pakistan. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Fair condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear, traces of weathering, corrosion and oxidation, expected casting irregularities. Evidence of fatigue cracks and breakages with subsequent repairs to the underside of the chariot and the neck of the female figure, with further small repairs to one of the wheels and possibly other places as well. Some warping, occasional small dents, few minor nicks and shallow surface scratches. Expected tarnishing to silver.

Weight: 319.1 g
Dimensions: Length 10.4 cm

The horse was first domesticated on the Eurasian steppe, its original habitat, possibly as early as the fourth millennium BC. Initially exploited as a source of meat, it subsequently assumed a role as a traction animal by the early second millennium BC, gradually supplanting the ox. Wheeled vehicles had emerged in the third millennium BC, yet the spoked wheel does not appear in the archaeological record until the late second millennium BC. The earliest extant chariot remains are attested in the burials of the Andronovo Culture, an Indo-Iranian population inhabiting regions of present-day Russia and Kazakhstan around 2000 BC.

Lions inhabited deserts and steppes adjacent to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Mesopotamia during Sumerian times (c. 3500–2000 BC). Rarely domesticated, these apex predators were widely recognized and profoundly feared. Hunting lions was a privilege of kings and court elites, functioning as an emblem of power, prestige, and mastery over nature. Lions were occasionally confined and selectively tamed for ceremonial or symbolic purposes. On rare occasions, they were trained to draw ceremonial chariots, yet their role remained largely emblematic, accentuating the prominence of the couple they draw in the present lot. Both textual and iconographic evidence from Sumerian city-states suggests that such animals could be employed in ritualized or performative contexts, reinforcing authority and elite status.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related copper alloy figure of a chariot drawn by four horses abreast, from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Sumerian civilization (present-day Iraq), Early Dynastic period, c. 2660-2370 BC, 7.2 cm high, in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, accession number IM31389.

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拍品估价:4,000 - 8,000 欧元 起拍价格:4,000 欧元  买家佣金: 30.00%

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