A LURISTAN BRONZE ‘MASTER OF ANIMALS’ STANDARD FINIAL, IRAN, CIRCA 1000-650 BCThe tubular base surmounted by a stylized janus-headed figure with three further janus heads above, flanked on either side by mythical creatures with zoomorphic heads grasped by the central figure at the neck.Provenance: Galerie Persépolis, Brussels, exhibited from 28 October to 13 November 1971. Collection Monsieur H., Brussels, acquired from the above. Collection Madame D.T., acquired from the above.Condition: Good condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, few nicks, light scratches, minor losses, signs of weathering and corrosion, and encrustations.Weight: 274.8 g (excl. stand)Dimensions: Height 21 cm (excl. stand) and 24.8 cm (incl. stand)With a modern metal stand. (2)Luristan bronzes are small cast and decorated objects from the Early Iron Age (first millennium BC) which have been found in large numbers in Lorestan province and Kermanshah in western Iran. They include a great number of ornaments, tools, weapons, horse fittings, and a smaller number of vessels including situlae and are characterized by a wide range of idiosyncratic forms and a highly stylized conception of human and animal representation. Those from recorded excavations were generally found in burials. The ethnicity of the people who created them remains unclear, though they may well have been Iranian, possibly related to the modern Lur people who have given their name to the area. Luristan bronze objects came to the notice of the world art market from the late 1920s onwards. They were excavated in considerable quantities by local people and are found today in many of the world’s most important museums.The Master of Animals is a motif in ancient art showing a human between and grasping two confronted animals. The motif is widespread in the art of the Ancient Near East and Egypt. Although such figures are not all, or even usually, deities, the term may be a generic name for a number of deities from a variety of cultures with close relations to the animal kingdom or in part animal form (in cultures where that is not the norm). These figures control animals, usually wild ones, and are responsible for their continued and availability for hunters. The Greek god shown as ‘Master of Animals’ is usually Apollo as a hunting deity. Shiva has the epithet Pashupati meaning the ‘Lord of animals’, and these figures may derive from an archetype. Chapter 39 of the Book of Job has been interpreted as an assertion of the deity of the Hebrew Bible as Master of Animals.Literatureparison:Compare a closely related Luristan bronze standard finial, 19.2 cm high, also dated circa 1000-650 BC, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number .pare a closely related Luristan bronze standard finial, 20.5 cm high, also dated circa 1000-650 BC, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number .