Iberian ex-voto; 1500 B.C.

Iberian ex-voto; 1500 B.C.
Bronze.
Provenance: Georges Savès collection.
Measurements: 6,1 cm.

Itiphalic figure made in bronze with a seated position and schematic features. The Iberians settled in the east and south of the Iberian Peninsula, maintaining a culture and customs very different from those of the peoples of the interior. Given the extent of their territory, which extended as far as the south of France, these people received diverse influences, among which first the Phoenicians and, later, the Greeks stood out. Iberian society was strongly hierarchical, with the warrior and noble classes being the highest. The priestly class competed with it in power, and the artisans were also well considered. Among the neighboring peoples, and especially among the Greeks, the Iberian warriors were especially admired, since they threw themselves into combat without fear and resisted fighting without retreating until death, even when the battle was already decided against them. In fact, the Greeks even hired Iberian mercenaries for their own wars.

This piece comes from the collection of Georges Savès (1908-1985), a French numismatist and collector with a deep vocation for archaeological study. Heir to a family tradition of collecting, he devoted himself fully to historical and numismatic research since the 1950s, especially on Toulouse and Gallic coins. Throughout his life, he assembled an eclectic collection of archaeological, ethnographic and artistic pieces, enriched in 1966 with the acquisition of part of the Roger Bédiat collection. Author of specialized studies, his legacy remains a reference in the academic and patrimonial fields.