Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • Shaft–hole axhead with a bird–headed demon, boar, and dragon, late 3rd–early 2nd millennium b.c.
    Central Asia (Bactria–Margiana)
    Silver, gold foil; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm)
    Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, and James N. Spear and Schimmel Foundation Inc. Gifts, 1982 (1982.5)

    Western Central Asia, now known as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and northern Afghanistan, has yielded objects attesting to a highly developed civilization in the late third and early second millennium B.C. Artifacts from the region indicate that there were contacts with Iran to the southwest. Tools and weapons, especially axes, comprise a large portion of the metal objects from this region.

    This shaft-hole axhead is a masterpiece of three-dimensional and relief sculpture. Expertly cast in silver and gilded with gold foil, it depicts a bird-headed hero grappling with a wild boar and a winged dragon. The idea of the heroic bird-headed creature probably came from western Iran, where it is first documented on a cylinder seal impression. The hero's muscular body is human except for the bird talons that replace the hands and feet. He is represented twice, once on each side of the ax, and consequently appears to have two heads. On one side, he grasps the boar by the belly and on the other, by the tusks. The posture of the boar is contorted so that its bristly back forms the shape of the blade. With his other talon, the bird-headed hero grasps the winged dragon by the neck. The dragon, probably originating in Mesopotamia or Iran, is represented with folded wings, a feline body, and the talons of a bird of prey.

    Related


    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Harper, Prudence O., Barbara A. Porter, Oscar White Muscarella, Holly Pittman, and Ira Spar "Ancient Near Eastern Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 41, no. 4 (Spring, 1984).
    JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Director" PDF
    • "Introduction" PDF
  • Druesedow, Jean L. "In Style: Celebrating Fifty Years of The Costume Institute." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 45, no. 2 (Fall, 1987).
    JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Director" PDF
    • "Introduction" PDF
  • Wixom, William D. "Medieval Sculpture: At The Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 46, no. 3 (Winter, 1988–89).
    JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Director" PDF
    • "Introduction" PDF
  • Libin, Laurence "Keyboard Instruments." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 47, no. 1 (Summer, 1989).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Mertens, Joan R., Oscar White Muscarella, Catharine H. Roehrig, Marsha Hill, and Elizabeth J. Milleker "Ancient Art: Gifts from the Norbert Schimmel Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 49, no. 4 (Spring, 1992).
    JSTOR | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Ancient Near Eastern" PDF
    • "Director" PDF
    • "Egyptian" PDF
    • "Greek and Roman" PDF
    • "Introduction" PDF
  • Rewald, Sabine "Balthus's Thérèses." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 33 (1998).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Rewald, Sabine "Balthus' Mountain Guide Revisited." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 37 (2002).
    JSTOR | PDF
    • On view: Gallery 403
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    • Shaft-hole axhead with a bird-headed demon, boar, and dragon, late 3rd–early 2nd millennium B.C.
    Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana)
    Silver, gold foil; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm)
    Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, and James N. Spear and Schimmel Foundation Inc. Gifts, 1982 (1982.5)

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