Bidspirit auction | SUPERB BACTRIAN BRONZE AXE WITH

SUPERB BACTRIAN BRONZE AXE WITH AN ANIMAL - Ca. 2500 - 2000 BC A Bactrian bronze votive axe that would have been placed atop a standard for ceremonial purposes. It has a small, round socket and the back side is adorned with a moulded stylised animal, probably a bull with horns and raised ears. On the other side is a short straight blade. Votive axes were also used throughout the ancient Near East, suggesting a similarity in culture. For similar see: Sandro Salvatori's Early Bactrian Objects in Private Collection (1988), n. 97. Size: 60mm x 160mm; Weight: 685g Provenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets.