A NEO-ASSYRIAN AGATE HEAD OF PAZUZU CIRCA 8TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.

拍品描述

A NEO-ASSYRIAN AGATE HEAD OF PAZUZU, MESOPOTAMIA, CIRCA 8TH-7TH CENTURY B.C. Carved in the round from a stone of deep orange-red hue, the head is worked as a compact demonic mask with bulging circular eyes set beneath a heavy prominent brow, flanking ears reduced to short lateral projections, and a broad muzzle framed by fine incised striations indicating fur or wrinkled flesh. The mouth is bared in a fixed rictus, the teeth rendered as a close-set register of vertical strokes above a chin marked with further incised lines suggesting a beard or the underside of the jaw. The reverse of the head tapers gently to a rounded terminus. The piece is mounted in a later gold suspension setting, comprising a granulated collar at the crown supporting a loop for suspension, and a further granulated cup at the base finished with a small pendant bead. The subject is Pazuzu, king of the wind demons of the Mesopotamian pantheon, son of Hanbi. His iconography is codified in the Neo-Assyrian period around a canine or leonine face with staring eyes, exposed teeth, and a snarling muzzle, features all present here in condensed form. Although Pazuzu was a demon of malevolent character, associated with the destructive southwest wind and with fevers, his image was worn precisely to repel evil, and in particular to protect against Lamashtu, the demon who threatened pregnant women and newborn infants. Amulets of this type, pierced or looped for suspension, were carried on the person as apotropaic devices, the terrifying countenance turned outward against greater terrors. The choice of a hardstone of this red-orange colour is meaningful. Agate and carnelian were valued in Mesopotamia both for their durability and for the association of red stones with vitality and the warding of harm, and such stones were imported over long distances from sources in Iran and the Indus region. Pazuzu amulets in Mesopotamia are more commonly encountered in bronze, and hardstone examples represent a more costly commission, a small object made by lapidaries accustomed to the demands of cylinder-seal cutting, where the compression of a complete iconographic scheme into miniature scale was the standard discipline. The later gold mount, with its granulated collar and drop, attests to the continued value placed on the amulet after antiquity, when it was rehoused for suspension as a personal ornament. This head exemplifies the miniature apotropaic tradition of Neo-Assyrian Mesopotamia, where the full-length demonic figure could be reduced to the head alone and the protective charge concentrated in that single feature. The compression of the standard Pazuzu physiognomy into a bead-sized hardstone carving demonstrates the lapidary economy of Assyrian workshops and the persistence of a demonic image whose apotropaic function outlived the empire that produced it. Dimensions: Height: 2cm

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