AN ACHAEMENID ROCK CRYSTAL SCARBOID DEPICTING A WINGED RECUMBENT BULL, IRAN, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.

拍品描述

AN ACHAEMENID ROCK CRYSTAL SCARABOID DEPICTING A WINGED RECUMBENT BULL, IRAN, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C. Of oval scaraboid form, the domed rock crystal bezel engraved in intaglio with a winged bull shown recumbent in profile to the right, the head turned frontally with prominent curving horns and pricked ears, the body compact and muscular with folded legs, and a single raised wing rising from the shoulder in a broad sickle-shaped arc composed of parallel striations to indicate the primary feathers. A short ground line runs beneath the animal. Traces of iron-oxide accretion adhere across the surface, lending the intaglio an ochre tonality against the clear matrix of the stone. The subject belongs to the repertoire of composite royal creatures that dominates Achaemenid glyptic art. The winged bull, drawn from an Assyrian and Elamite iconographic inheritance, functioned in the Achaemenid visual system as a guardian of kingship and cosmic order, the same creature encountered monumentally in the lamassu figures flanking palace gateways at Persepolis and Susa. In miniature, on the bezel of a seal-stone, the motif carried the authority of the throne into the personal sphere of its owner, marking documents, sealings and property with an image aligned to royal legitimacy. The frontal turn of the head, an unusual and demanding compositional choice, is characteristic of the finer Achaemenid court style, in which the engraver sought to combine profile body with confrontational gaze. Rock crystal held particular status among the materials chosen for Achaemenid seal-stones. Harder than the chalcedonies more commonly used, it required specialist lapidary skill and a slower engraving process, and its transparency allowed the intaglio to be read both as a sunken image on the stone and as a floating design when viewed through the dome. Its use signals a commission of some rank, appropriate to the administrative and courtly circles within which such seals circulated between Persepolis, Susa and the satrapal capitals of the empire. The scaraboid form itself, oval and domed above a flat engraved face, was the standard shape for Achaemenid personal seals from the later sixth century onward, superseding the earlier cylinder in the western territories of the empire while continuing to coexist with it in Mesopotamia. Such stones were typically mounted on a swivel setting or pierced longitudinally for suspension, allowing the seal to be worn and used as a functional object of daily administration. This scaraboid exemplifies the Achaemenid court glyptic tradition in one of its more demanding materials, uniting a canonical royal creature with the technical prestige of rock crystal engraving. The combination places it within the small group of seal-stones that carried the imagery of empire on the bodies of those who administered it. Dimensions: Length: 2.2cm

图片