Openwork pin with a squatting female

Iran

Not on view

This is a bronze pin with an openwork design on the head. The design features a stylized squatting woman controlling two horned animals. The woman’s face is obscured by corrosion, but it is clear that she has horns, marking her as a goddess. Two large curls to either side of her head may be hair or earrings. She also has pellet-shaped breasts. Her arms, which curl upward, each grasp the snout of a stylized horned animal. These animals has long, curved necks which join in the middle beneath the goddess, forming the groundline on which she squats. A strut connects the goddess to the bottom of the design, and two curved elements connect the animals’ heads to the goddess’; it is not clear if these are decorative or structural, or both.

This pin was excavated at Surkh Dum, a settlement site in Luristan in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. It was part of a large hoard of objects buried beneath a doorjamb in a structure interpreted as a sanctuary; thus the objects were probably offerings made for a god. Openwork pins of this sort are frequently attributed to Luristan, but this is one of the few examples from an archaeological excavation.

Openwork pin with a squatting female, Bronze, Iran

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.