ClassificationsAncient Near Eastern Art

Master-of-Animals Standard

AAT Object Form/FunctionFinials

Place CreatedLuristan, Iran, Asia

PeriodIron Age III

Date800-600 BCE

MediumBronze

Credit LineGift of the Christian Humann Foundation

Dimensions11 3/8 x 3 3/4 in. (28.9 x 9.5 cm)

Object number1986.019.007 A

Label TextLuristan, a mountainous region in the central Zagros mountain range in western Iran, was the home to a vibrant metalworking tradition between the second and first millennium BC. A great number of standards such as this one exist in collections all over the world and attest to the skill and imagination of the metalworkers. Scholars have been able to date the standards based primarily on the level of intricacy of their imagery. On this standard, a central figure grasps the necks of animals, whose mouths gape open. From the base of each neck there springs a cock's head. In contrast to the upper part of the finial, the haunches and legs of the animals are smooth and plain. The standard displays a common decorative motif that was derived from an ancient Mesopotamian theme depicting a hero between two animals. In the Luristan bronzes, however, fantastic elements not found earlier were added, such as the cocks' heads growing out of the animals' necks and the merging of the hero's body with the hindquarters of the animals. The standards were meant to be seen from both sides and therefore were cast to appear identical from front and back.

These standards have been recovered primarily from grave sites; however, this does not confirm that they had a solely funerary function. As is so often the case, the best-preserved objects are found in funerary contexts but may also suggest the types of material that existed at settlement sites. The function of these standards is debated and scholars have offered a number of suggestions including chariot fittings, household cult idols, deity standards, troop standards, or apotropaic talismans. As the Lurs were a seminomadic group without an extant written language, it is difficult to discern the exact use and significance of these standards. However, the great number of the standards and intricately fashioned ornaments for horses made by the Lurs suggest that the portability of their art conformed to their nomadic lifestyle. The quantity of such standards suggest that they would have been owned by a relatively large segment of the population.
(Claire Fitzgerald, 2007)

A very large quantity of bronze objects survive from the region of Luristan in the central Zagros mountains of western Iran and bears witness to a remarkable people and metalworking tradition that flourished from the third through the first millennia BC. The metalworkers of Luristan were masters of two metalworking techniques: the cire perdue (lost-wax) cast technique and the shaping, hammering, and decorating of sheet metal. Luristan metalworkers were also skilled artists who incorporated stunning imagery of native animals and mythical beasts in their manufacture of weapons, tools, and objects whose use and artistic imagery indicate a culture preoccupied with the hunt, battle, horses, and religion.

Standard finials are the hallmark object of Luristan art and its bronze industry between the tenth and seventh centuries BC. Meant to be seen from both sides, these objects were often mounted on bottle-shaped supports by means of a central tube or pin. Their iconography is striking, varying rampant goats and lions to exotic master- or mistress-of-animals where abstract humanlike bodies were fused with stylized lions, goats, birds, and mythical, fantastic beasts. Only a very few have been recovered from excavated tombs and sanctuaries and are best interpreted as representations of local gods, deities, or demons.
(Monique Seefried, 1996)
Exhibition HistorySelected Acquisitions: Asia to America, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, May 8 - August 8, 1987
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - Spring 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - January 2011
Monsters, Demons & Winged Beasts: Composite Creatures in the Ancient World, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 5 - June 19, 2011
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, June 20, 2011 - February 12, 2018
Michael C. Carlos Museum Morgens West Foundation Galleries of Ancient Near Eastern Art, November 10, 2018 - Present
Published ReferencesMichael C. Carlos Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 1996), 38.

ProvenanceEx coll. Christian Humann (1929-1981), New York, New York, purchased from Mathias Komor (1909-1984), New York, New York. Thence by descent.

Status

On view

Collections