Nuragic Statuette of a Cloaked Tribal Chief

9th-6th century BC. A bronze statuette of a male with elongated features to the face, small ears to the side, hair represented by lines forming a ponytail; large cloak covering the body, open to the front revealing arms, tunic and bare legs. See Insoll, T., The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines, p. 808-819, for discussion. 288 grams, 15.5cm (6"). Ex North London collection; formerly in a Swiss family collection; acquired in the 1970s. The Nuragic bronze statuettes are typical Sardinian bronze sculptures of the final phase of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. These votive statuettes have been found mainly in places of worship like the holy wells and the so-called Megara temples but also in villages and nuraghes, a type of tower-fortress. Several statues were also found in excavations carried out in central Italy in Etruscan tombs of the ninth to eighth century BC. The statuettes were most likely made by the lost wax method, and represent scenes of everyday life of the Nuragic people, depicting characters from various social classes, animal figures, warriors, chiefs, divinities, everyday objects and ships. Some Nuragic bronzes clearly portray the figures of chief-kings, recognisable by their wearing a cloak and carrying a staff with bosses. The Nuragic civilisation was probably based on clans, each led by a chief, who resided in the complex nuraghe, with ordinary people living in the nearby villages of stone roundhouses with straw roofs. [A video of this lot is available on TimeLine Auctions website]
Condition Report: Fine condition. Rare.