AN ‘IBEX’ BRONZE FINIAL, SOUTHERN SIBERIA, 6TH – 5TH CENTURY BC

Scientific Analysis Report: A certificate issued by Re. S. Artes on 19 May 2016, no. R 145840A-6, based on the analysis of a sample taken from under the base, with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), finds that the bronze exhibits natural wear and corrosion that penetrates deeply into the metal, which have occurred since the casting and point to an age of over 2500 years, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies the lot.

Finely cast in the form of an ibex with long, ribbed, and powerfully curved horns, as well as pricked funnel-shaped ears, and a short tail, standing atop a rectangular base. The elaborate finial was probably once part of a throne or chariot, the hollow body has large diamond-shaped openings.

Provenance: The Kuizenga collection, Netherlands, acquired on 20 August 2008. Kuizenga is a collector active from the 1970s onward, whose name appears frequently in the provenance of bronze arms and armors.
Condition: Good condition, overall as expected and fully commensurate with age. Old wear, small losses, few dents, minor nicks, extensive signs of weathering and erosion, and soil encrustations. Naturally grown patina in tones of malachite-green overall.

Weight: 695 g
Dimensions: Height 20.8 cm

Expert’s note: It is interesting to note that wild ibex, goats and other bovids appear in artifacts from a wide range of sites within Northern, Central and Western Asia over a long period of time spanning thousands of years. Goats are among the earliest animals domesticated by humans. The most recent genetic analysis confirms the archaeological evidence that the wild bezoar ibex of the Zagros Mountains is the likely original ancestor of probably all domestic goats today.
Neolithic farmers began to herd wild goats primarily for easy access to milk and meat, as well as to their dung, which was used as fuel, and their bones, hair, and sinew which were used for clothing, building, and tools. The earliest remnants of domesticated goats dating 10,000 years before the present are found in Ganj Dareh in Iran. Goat remains have been found at archaeological sites in Jericho, Choga Mami, Djeitun, and Cayonu, dating the domestication of goats in Northern and Western Asia at between 8,000 and 9,000 years ago.

Literature comparison:
Compare a near-identical ibex bronze, 20 cm high, also attributed to Southern Siberia and dated 6^th-5^th century BC, at Galerie Samarcande, Paris, reference no. 88424. Compare a related bronze rattle of an ibex, Inner Mongolia, dated 5th–4th century BC, in the Saint Louis Art Museum, object number 32:1943.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 27 October 2004, lot 175
Price: GBP 14,340 or approx. EUR 35,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Achaemenid bronze figure of an ibex, Second half of 5^th century BC
Expert’s remark: Compare with an Achaemenid version of the same subject, dating from the same period, but of smaller size (9 cm).