Lot 26
BACTRIAN COLUMN IDOL
CENTRAL ASIA, C. LATE 3RD/EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
£3,024
Classical Ancient Art // Form Through Time
Auction: Form Through Time - 21st March 2024 at 2pm
Description
carved and polished black breccia, of tapered cylindrical form, with a prominent wide running from the top along the full body
Dimensions
31cm high
Provenance
Provenance:
Private collection, Belgium, formed early 1970s – present
Footnote
Note:
With a powerful simplicity of form, these enigmatic stone idols were produced by artisans of the Bactrian (or Oxus) culture, an ancient civilization that flourished between the 3rd and 2nd millenniums B.C., occupying a large area between India and Afghanistan.
Their original use is a matter of modern debate, though many scholars believe the earliest such "idols" were in fact counterweights used for pounding the agricultural produce that was the backbone of the Oxus economy. The presence of grooves in some column idols may have originally hosted a cord that suspended the weight for this purpose. Their use may have subsequently developed to the purely ritual, as later examples are found to be smaller and shorter, much shallow in depth and with a more pronounced curving form, less appropriate for practical use.
