Cheekpiece for Horse Bit in Form of a Horse

AAT Object Form/FunctionBits (bridle components)

AAT Object Form/FunctionBridle Ornaments

Place CreatedLuristan, Iran, Asia

PeriodIron Age III

Date8th-7th Century BCE

MediumBronze

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Dimensions3 7/16 x 3 in. (8.7 x 7.6 cm)

Object number1966.309

Label TextThe importance of the horse in ancient Luristan is documented by the large number of surviving horse trappings and decorative harness fittings. Cheekpieces, like this example, were attached to the harness bit and were often cast in a variety of forms ranging from horses, mouflons, and boars to mythical sphinxes, griffins, and master-of-animals. Representations of figured cheekpieces appear on sculptured reliefs from Assyria, dating to the late eighth and seventh centuries BC, and indicate that these fittings had a market outside of Luristan.
Exhibition HistoryA Preview of the Collections, Schatten Gallery, February 15 - April 4, 1982
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - Spring 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - February 12, 2018
Michael C. Carlos Museum Morgens West Foundation Galleries of Ancient Near Eastern Art, November 10, 2018 - Present
Published ReferencesEmory University Museum of Art and Archaeology: A Preview of the Collections (Atlanta: The Museum, 1982): 8.
Michael C. Carlos Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 1996), 40.

ProvenancePurchased by Dr. Immanuel Ben-Dor (1901-1969) with museum funds from Giblin and Hirst, London, England, 1966.

Status

On view

Collections