Horse Bit with Winged Mouflons

Place of OriginIran, probably from Luristan

Date750-650 BCE

Dimensions6 1/2 × 9 1/4 × 4 7/8 in. (16.5 × 23.5 × 12.4 cm)
Proper Right: 6 3/8 × 5 1/2 in. (16.2 × 14 cm)
Proper Left: 6 3/16 × 5 5/8 in. (15.7 × 14.4 cm)

Mediumbronze

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LineGift of James F. White, Jr., in memory of his wife, Susan (“Sue”) Serrott White

Object number

1987.291

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis bronze horse bit consists of two cheekpieces connected by a rigid central mouthpiece, or bit. The ends of the mouthpiece terminate in open, curled rings for attaching reins. The two cheekpieces are cast and chased in mirror image, each depicting a striding winged mouflon (a type of wild sheep). The animals are shown with large, deeply engraved curling horns, and their heads and hooves are well-defined. Their wings are lightly etched with a herringbone pattern, and they wear a cross-hatched collar decoration on their necks. Each mouflon's tail is upturned, connecting with its wing. Between the legs of each animal are complex, smaller "mystic animal groupings". The object is currently mounted on a modern stepped base for display.

Label TextHorses were essential to the way of life of the Lurs, nomadic herders and hunters who lived in the rugged mountainous region between the Tigris and Euphrates river plain and the central Iranian plateau. A frequent Lur grave offering was a bronze horse bit. The large cheekpieces on this bit are in the form of mouflons, wild sheep—here shown with wings, as mythological spirits of the mountains and sky, with their young nestled between their legs. Luristan art encompasses intricately cast bronze objects—such as horse gear, weapons, and ritual finials—produced in western Iran's Zagros Mountains between 1000 and 650 BCE. Characterized by stylized animal motifs and openwork designs, these artifacts reflect the material culture of nomadic or transhumant societies in Iran. Most known examples surfaced through antiquities markets, often lacking archaeological context.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 95, repr. (col.).Comparative ReferencesSee also Moorey, P.R.S. et al., Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics and Seals, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981, pp. 14-17, and nos. 141, 144, 151.

See also Ghirshman, R., The Arts of Ancient Iran, New York, 1964, pp. 41-83.