AN EARLY ISLAMIC BRONZE MINIATURE FIGURINE OF A DEER
Possibly Umayyad Syria or Iran, 8th - 9th century

Cast in the shape of a deer or gazelle, standing on four legs, the figurine worked with great realism showing short spiky horns and pointy ears on the head, and a pointy tail and protruding joints on the legs, 5.5cm x 6cm.

The style and design of the present lot are reminiscent of Ancient Mesopotamian and Near Eastern bronze animal figurines, like the bronze bull sculpture excavated in Kirkuk, Northern Iraq, and dated to 2600 - 2200 BCE, now part of the British Museum collection (acc. no. 1957,0511.1). Together with a few other objects, the bull was found inside a stone-lined grave in a mound four meters high, shedding light on burial practices and afterlife beliefs in Ancient Near Eastern cultures. It is likely that examples like the present lot were among the first bronze creations in the newly formed Islamic lands, still heavily influenced by the artistic heritage of the past. For an important example of bronze deer dating to the Umayyad period, larger in size but still useful to compare with our lot, please see Christie's London, 6 October 2011, lot 20.