A Luristan Bronze Pin with Open Cage Head, ca. 1200 - 800 BCE

A bronze example including a heavy squared pin having an open cage finial.

Background: These pins are comprised of two different groupings of Western Persian pins: the first consists of those with simple cast heads depicting discs, domes, cones, and other basically geometric shapes, fruit and floral shapes, and zoomorphic shapes. These types of pins were common in Luristan as well as other areas of western Persia. The second (or third as P.R.S. Moorey categorizes it) grouping consists of those with normally circular, hammered sheet-bronze heads; design in repousse or chased on the surface. These pins are almost exclusively found in Luristan.

It is almost impossible to differentiate the functions of certain pins, except for the suggestion that a hole in the shank of the pin indicates it as a garment pin rather than a hair pin.

Reference: P.R.S. Mooney, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1971, pgs 172-215.

Dimensions: Height: 6 1/2 inches (16.5 cm)

Condition: With blue-green surface patina, intact and in excellent condition.

Provenance: Estate collection of Nourollah Elghanayan , NYC., acquired 1960s - 70s.