Bronze “Idol” with Ibexes

Product Description

This idol is composed of three elements separated from each other: the bottle-shaped base, the cylindrical stem and the standard with the stylized animals.

The two arched ibexes place their hind legs on a pierced, circular ring, while their forelegs join with a second ring above. They are characterized by elegant and slender shapes, however, so stylized that only the presence of the long horns enables us to identify the species represented. Two protomes of wild cats, emerging from the back of each ibex, give this idol a fantastic appearance.

Largely attested in Luristan (modern-day western Iran), “idols” of this type show a varied iconography, including animals (felines, horses, caprids), human or hybrid beings that may be difficult to identify. Their purpose still remains unknown: they are often referred to as standards, since they are thought to have been mounted of a sort of scepter, on a function stick or on a decorated handle.

Some examples come from necropolises, but it is not possible to determine whether all idols had a funerary purpose: in turn, they have been regarded as images of deities, household idols, talismans, objects used for funeral rituals, etc.

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