PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTION
A FINE CAST BRONZE FELINE HEAD FROM AN INCENSE BURNER, KHURASAN OR AFGHANISTAN, 11TH-12TH CENTURY
Auction Closed
October 27, 04:55 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTION
A FINE CAST BRONZE FELINE HEAD FROM AN INCENSE BURNER, KHURASAN OR AFGHANISTAN, 11TH-12TH CENTURY
cast in the form of a smiling feline with open mouth, large openwork eyes, pointed ears, the body pierced and engraved with geometric lattice containing palmette scrolls
14cm.
Ex-private collection, Europe, until 1997.
Zoomorphic incense burners produced in the northeast of Iran in the twelfth century take a distinct shape which sets them apart from the simpler, purely functional burners. Invested with characteristic vigour and humour, this head (missing its body) is of a classic Khurasanian type, of which examples can be found in major public and private collections, including the David Collection, Copenhagen (inv. no.48/1981), the Louvre, Paris (inv. no.AA 19), the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. no.1948.308) and the monumental version in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (inv. no.51.56).