Central Asian Metalwork

A Silver Tsampa or Jha Phor Bowl in Silver and Burl Wood, Tibetan/Himalayan in origin. 19th Century. This exquisite bowl, traditionally called Tibetan Tsampa or Jha Phor (Tibetan national dish and milk...

A good antique Islamic Qajar period bronze Arabic armillary (spherical astrolabe), celestial globe, circa 1850. The globe having a graduated ring & standing on four blustered legs, t...

This fragment forms part of the famed Ziwiye hoard of treasure, reputably found in 1947 in modern day Kurdistan. As the contents of a royal tomb of a great ancient king, the pieces were quickly dispersed and only in the following years did the huge significance become understood in scholarship. These objects have become famous as the keystone in explaining underpinning socio-economic and political cultural ties across the silk route, reflected by these works of art. These objects exhibit styles and motifs associated with the four pre-eminent cultures at this juncture in history: Assyrian, Scythian, proto-Achaemenid and the provincial native pieces. The Scythians, a seminomadic people from the Eurasian steppes who moved out from Southern Russia into the territory between the Don and the Danube and then into Mesopotamia are responsible for the basis of an ‘animal style’ design found on the elaborate metalwork and jewellery produced in Central Asian ancient world. This style starts to appear in the 7th century B.C typically on pierced plaques made of gold and silver, which depict running or fighting animals (reindeer, lions, tigers, horses) alone or in pairs facing each other, embossed with powerful plasticity and free interpretation of the forms. The animal- style had a strong influence in western Asia during the 7th century B.C. Such ornaments as necklaces, bracelets, pectorals, diadems, and earrings making up the Ziwiye treasure (discovered in Iran near the border between Kurdistan and Azerbaijan) provide evidence of this Asiatic phase of Scythian gold...

The nomadic nature of the Eurasian steppe tribes allowed for much integration and exchange of styles and customs, as well as physical transportable objects; including personal ornamentation and weaponry. Particularly between the Scythian tribes of the Black sea region in the West, Central Asian tribes such as the Hephthalites, the Wushu, Yuezhi and Mongolians to the East and the Persians further South. The blade of this piece has strong ties to daggers of the late Chinese Shang...

Resting on a wide, trumpeted foot, this wonderful candlestick rises from a band of chased keyfret motif to a body of open pierced fretwork, which consists of thuluth calligraphy agai...

A good antique Islamic Qajar period bronze Persian Arabic armillary (spherical astrolabe), celestial globe, circa 1850. The globe having a graduated ring & standing on four blustered...

Shiva the Hindu god of destruction is also known as Nataraja, the Lord of Dancers (In Sanskrit Nata means dance and raja means Lord). The visual image of Nataraja achieved canonical form in the bronzes cast under the Chola dynasty in the tenth century AD, The Chola Nataraja is often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu art.

Beautifully mounted silver and carnelian headdress from Turkmenistan. This piece was worn as part of the traditional Turkmen woman's ceremonial outfit.

An antique Persian copper vase moulded in relief with birds and animals set amidst scrolling flowering stems and dating from the 19th century. This...

Antique copper vase Central Asia. (Kazagstan). Diameter:33 cm. Height:24 cm.