Amulet; Luristan, 800 B.C.

Amulet; Luristan, 800 B.C.
Bronze.
Provenance: Georges Savès collection.
Measurements: 3 x 4,2 x 1,7 cm.

Round figure made of bronze in the zoomorphic form of a ram. The piece presents a ring that joins the zone of the neck with the back, for what probably in origin the piece was conceived to be hung and used as protection.
The Luristan culture developed between the 2nd millennium and the 8th century B.C., when it was eliminated due to conflicts in the area. It was a nomadic people from southern Russia, settled on the Iranian plateau and composed of different independent groups, without national identity, but with common cultural characteristics. They developed a rich metal culture, working mainly bronze. With it they made all kinds of functional pieces, such as the one presented here, as well as votive offerings and objects of personal adornment. Theirs was a figurative art, although cryptic and deeply symbolic, which sought expressiveness over naturalism. A marked axis of symmetry is always evident in the Luristan pieces.

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.