Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 7. (Budapest, 1964)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Ferenczy, László: Bronzes of Luristan

Fig. 1. Bronze pin-head in the form of a horse. Luristan ship from the collection of Béla Heine.

13 The latter of the two pieces published by Bleichsteiner is especially comparable to our object.

14 According to Potratz there is a specimen in Berlin which is also similar to ours, and one in American and one in British collections.

15 Small bumps on the Berlin figure indicate the straps of the harness around the horse's head. Hansford published a somewhat similar pin-head in the form of a winged gryphon from the Seligman collection. The body of the crouchant animal is similar to the mentioned pieces, i.e. resembles that of a horse, but it has the head of a bird. In his opinion this object would seem to be too heavy for personal adornment and he describes it as an awl-handle.

16 The pin itself is set at an unusaul angle in relation to the head, i. e., the horse's body. If the pin was placed vertically then the horse's body also had to be vertical. We can only surmise that the pin was placed horizontally or diagonally. In a shrine of Luristan unearthed by the American expedition the many pins found were only for votive use and not one contained the representation of a horse. This contradicts the possibility of our pin being a votive object. Only tombs have yielded horse representations and bits. The stem of the pin was entirely rust-eaten and only the stumps survived. This is characteristic also of the mentioned analogies. The stem of the pins from Luristan also had to be originally made of bronze and only later of iron. The simultaneous use of bronze and iron on one object proving the rarity and high value of iron, is characteristic of the transitory period between the Bronze and Iron Ages. Here we, should mention the bronze axes from Koban which were decorated 13 Godard, A. : Les bronzes du Luristan, 1931. Pl. XXXVI/155. 14 Bleichsteiner, R. : Zum eurasiatisehen Tierstil. Berichte des Asien Arbeitskreises. 1939/2. pp. 9 — 66. T. 1/2. 3. 15 Potratz, H. : Die Luristan-Bronzen des Staatlichen Museums für Vor- und Frühgeschichte zu Berlin. Prähist. Zeitschrift, XXX —XXXI, 1939-40. pp. 184 — 185. Abb. 6. 16 Hansford, S. H. : The Seligman Collection of Oriental Art. Vol. I. London 1957. Pl. XLIX.