Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

98
5 7
9
Axe engraved with stags. Bronze, length
18.1 cm. (7/8in.).
Koban culture, beginning of the 1st
millennium B.C. North Ossetia, Koban
burial. K. I. Olshevsky Collection.
Hermitage, 1731/4.
Pervobytnaya kultura (Ermitazh. Putevoditel
po Vystavke), (Moscow, 1955), issue 1.
6 (Color plate 1)
This pin is in the shape of an axe
characteristic of the Koban culture. Flat
metal strips were once attached to the
loops to make a jingling noise.
Axe-shaped pin decorated with animal
heads and engraved ornament. Bronze, length
28 cm. (11 in.).
Koban culture, beginning of the 1st
millennium B.C. North Ossetia, Koban
burial. A. A. Bobrinsky Collection.
Hermitage, 17.17/6.
P. S. Uvarova, "Mogilniki Severnogo
Kavkaza," AlAK (1900), issue 8, p. 51,
fig. 51.
'.. >.
I 'AI. .
The narrow, elongated form typical of
Koban buckles is here converted into the
shape of a galloping horse. The simple
outline of the body is in sharp contrast to
the elaborate linear decoration.
Galloping horse, belt buckle. Bronze, 12.9 cm.
(5116 in.).
Koban culture, beginning of the 1st
millennium B.C. North Ossetia, Koban
burial. K. I. Olshevsky Collection.
Hermitage, 1731/24.
Smirnova, Domansky, Drevnee iskusstvo,
pl. 30.
8 (Color plate 2)
This clasp illustrates the ornamental use
of iron at a period before it was employed
in the manufacture of weapons or tools.
A large hook on the reverse entered a hole
or loop in a leather or metal belt; such
belts are found in large numbers in graves
in the Koban. They are characteristically
decorated with geometric forms (perhaps
derived from textiles) and rather
vivacious animal figures.
Belt clasp engraved with carved geometric
ornament and stags. Bronze, inlaid with iron,
length 24.1 cm. (91/^ in.).
Koban culture, beginning of the 1st
millennium B.C. North Ossetia, Koban
burial. Murie Collection. Hermitage,
2192/4.
Unpublished.
7
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Frequently only the head of an animal
decorates Koban weapons or horse
trappings-the part representing the powers
of the whole creature, as it does in later
Scythian works. The exaggerated size of
the horns indicates their particular
significance.
Ram's-head pendant. Bronze, height 5.8 cm.
(25/6 in.).
Koban culture, beginning of the 1st
millennium B.C. North Ossetia, Koban
burial. Hermitage, 333/7.
Unpublished.
Culture
of Urartu
9th-beginning of the
6th century B.C.
10
Cup with the name of the UIrartean king
Argishti I and an inscription in hieroglyphic
characters. Bronze, diameter 19.5 cm.
(7% in.).
Urartean culture, 8th century B.C. Armeniani
SSR, Karmir-Blur (Teishebaini) near
Erivan. Excavations of B. Piotrovsky, 1949.
Hermitage, 17748.
Karmir-Blur 1I. Rezultaty raskopok
1949-1950 (Erivan, 1952), p. 55, fig. 27.
11
Cup with the name of the Lrartean king
Sarduri II and an engraved lion's head and
tower with tree. Bronze, diameter 19 cm.
(7 1/., in. ).
Urartean culture, 8th century B.C. Armenian
SSR, Karmir-Blur near Erivan. Excavations
of B. Piotrovsky, 1949. Hermitage, 1-752.
Karmir-Blur 11, p. 55.