Lot 79
79
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A HORNED GRIFFIN HEAD
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A HORNED GRIFFIN HEAD
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THE VIDAL GOLD HOARD (lots 75 - 84)PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF NICOLAS KOTOULAKIS
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A HORNED GRIFFIN HEAD

IRAN, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C

Details
AN ACHAEMENID GOLD APPLIQUE OF A HORNED GRIFFIN HEAD
IRAN, CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C
1 ¼ in. (3.1 cm.) high
Provenance
Reputedly excavated in Hamadan, Iran in 1920.
Maurice Vidal collection, New York, prior to July 1948.
Literature
A. Upham Pope, 'Recently Found Treasures of one of the World’s First and Greatest Empires: Achaemenid Gold Objects', Illustrated London News, 17 July 1948, p. 59, fig. 7.
Iran: pièces du Musée de Téhéran, du Musée du Louvre et de collections particulières, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 1948, p. 36, no. 61.
M. T. Mustafavi, The Historical Monuments of Hamadan and a Chapter concerning Avicenna, Teheran, 1953, pp. 140-141.
H. J. Kantor, 'Achaemenid Jewelry in the Oriental Institute', in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, 1957, p. 18, footnote 94.
Exhibited
Musée Cernuschi, Paris, Iran: pièces du Musée de Téhéran, du Musée du Louvre et de collections particulières, 23-31 July 1948.
Further details
US clients wishing to buy this lot, and any persons wishing to import it into the USA, should contact Christie’s prior to placing a bid. Due to current Iranian sanctions, transactions involving certain Iranian-origin property may require authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to be shipped to the USA. Christie’s has an OFAC General License that enables these imports, subject to certain conditions and disclosures to OFAC. Please contact Christie’s for further information.

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Lot Essay

The closest contemporaneous parallel for the horned griffin are several medallions of the same subject in the Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, Inv. no. A28588A, though the applique here is more stylised. The dynamism and independence seen in this collection exemplify the innovative achievements of Achaemenid goldsmiths who represented Persian art as a whole, as there was “no distinction between decorative and major arts, save one of scale” in the period, as described by Kantor, op. cit., p. 2.
For other related horned griffin heads, see the five plaques in Boston, nos. 18-22 in Spier, Potts, and Cole, eds, Persia, Ancient Iran and the Classical World.

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