Bidspirit auction | SUPERB BACTRIAN BRONZE BATTLE AXE

SUPERB BACTRIAN BRONZE BATTLE AXE - 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 one side is decorated with the image of a stylised bird, complete with beak and eyes. Opposite the bird is a curved 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 91. Size: 65mm x 200mm; Weight: 645g Provenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets.