Caption

Protoma; bull's head relief mask made in gold using repoussé, granulation, and filigree; eyes, nostrils, and muzzle repoussé and bordered with filigree; small ears and plastically modeled horns horns soldered on; reverse closed with an undecorated gold sheet with an irregular hole from removal of an attachment; ca. 1450–ca. 1100 BC Middle Elamite period? — alternative dating to Achaemenid period 600–539 BC debated; argument for second half of 2nd millennium BC; Elam, Iran; goldsmithing; Iranian/Elamite art; height 9.5 cm, width 7.8 cm, depth 2.5 cm, weight 48 g., A gold-colored sculpted animal head with a textured surface sits against a gray background; the piece has two curved horns wrapped in coiled material, a pair of pointed ears with circular indentations, prominent eye shapes with raised rims, a long snout covered in dense pebbled texture, and smoother rounded nostril forms near the tip, with the overall colors being gold tones and gray.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A04_291

License type

Rights managed

Available size

75.5Mb (3.0Mb) / 14.7in x 19.9in / 4421 x 5969 (300dpi)

Keywords

Protoma bull's head relief mask gold using repoussé granulation filigree eyes nostrils muzzle repoussé bordered small ears plastically modeled horns horns soldered on reverse closed undecorated sheet irregular hole removal attachment ca 1450–ca 1100 BC Middle Elamite period alternative dating Achaemenid period 600–539 BC debated argument second half 2nd millennium BC Elam Iran goldsmithing Iranian Elamite art height 9.5 cm width 7.8 cm depth 2.5 cm weight 48 g gold-colored sculpted animal head textured surface sits gray background piece two curved horns wrapped coiled material pair pointed ears circular indentations prominent eye shapes raised rims long snout covered dense pebbled texture smoother rounded nostril forms near tip colors gold tones gray.