Breastplate fragment
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Object Details
- Description
- This fragment is the lowest part of a trapezoidal breastplate made of sheet gold, decorated with parallel registers of figures in repoussé technique. In the upper register are two antithetical pairs of creatures, human-headed winged bulls and crested griffins, flanking a "sacred tree." In the lower register, a "sacred tree" with palmette top is flanked by a pair of horned griffins and a pair of winged bird-men carrying buckets and holding pine cones.
- Provenance
- From at least 1957 to 1966
- Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981). [1]
- From 1966 to 1986
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. [2]
- From 1986
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, transferred from Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC [3]
- Notes:
- [1] The object was published in the Royal Ontario Museum’s publication in 1957, which states that it belonged to Mr. Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s collection at the time. See Needler, Winifred (1957). Four Near Eastern Antiquities Lent by Mr. Joseph H. Hirshhorn. Royal Ontario Museum Bulletin of the Division of Art and Archaeology, 9-10, pl. 3A. See also Curatorial Remark 4 in the object record.
- [2] See document from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, object file, Collections Management Office.
- [3] See note 2. See also object file, Collections Management Office.
- Collection
- National Museum of Asian Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran (February 4, 2012 - ongoing)
- Gold: The Asian Touch (September 10, 2005 to February 20, 2006)
- Metalwork and Ceramics from Ancient Iran (November 19, 1992 to January 22, 2004)
- Nomads and Nobility: Art from the Ancient Near East (September 28, 1987 to November 1, 1992)
- 7,000 ans d'art en Iran (October 1961 to January 1962)
- Untitled Exhibition, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1957 (1957)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981)
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Credit Line
- Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution
- ca. 800-500 BCE
- Period
- Iron Age III
- Accession Number
- S1986.496
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Weapon and Armament
- Medium
- Gold
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 9.3 x 18.1 x 0.5 cm (3 11/16 x 7 1/8 x 3/16 in)
- Origin
- Northwestern Iran
- On View
- Sackler Gallery 21: Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- chasing
- repoussé
- metal
- gold
- tree
- bull
- Iron Age III (ca. 800 - 500 BCE)
- griffin
- Iran
- Ancient Near Eastern Art
- Record ID
- fsg_S1986.496
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3a964f948-6893-4d75-a2e8-1628ce1bc42a
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