BACTRIAN BRONZE RAM-SHAPED OIL LAMP

C. 2nd-1st millennium BC. A spectacular ram-shaped bronze oil lamp. The ramp stands foursquare, looking forward. Large, curved horns, project from its head. On its back is a large filling hole with an out-turned rim and the remains of a hinge for the lid. The rama's long legs terminate in carefully modelled feet. A length cylindrical spout with an upturned end juts out from its chest. Bactra was the Greek name for the area of modern Balkh, in what is now northern Afghanistan and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Margu, the capital of which was Merv, in today's Turkmenistan. This civilisation was contemporary with the European Bronze Age, and was characterised by monumental architecture, social complexity and extremely distinctive cultural artefacts that vanish from the record a few centuries after they first appear. Trade appears to have been important, as Bactrian artefacts appear all over the Persian Gulf as well as in the Iranian Plateau and the Indus Valley. Excellent condition; beautiful patina. Provenance: Important London collection of Ancient art; formed in the 1970s then passed by descent. Size: L:205mm / W:240mm ; 1.6kg