Sasanian Horse Head from Kerman
Unknown · Sasanian, fourth century AD
A horse's head in silver, fourteen centimetres high, turns its alert ears forward and flares its nostrils as if reined in mid stride. The mane is combed into neat gilded locks, the bridle is picked out with gilding, and the eyes are wide and rimmed. The metal was raised from sheet and chased with fine tools, and the contrast between the bright silver of the muzzle and the golden harness was intended. Walk around it to see the open neck, which shows that the head was fitted onto something else.
Found in the region of Kerman in south-eastern Iran, the head is dated to the fourth century of our era, when the Sasanian dynasty ruled from Mesopotamia to Central Asia. Its craftsmen produced some of the finest silverwork of antiquity, much of it showing the king on horseback hunting lions or boars. This piece probably decorated a throne or a bed, the horse being an emblem of royal and aristocratic power. The Louvre purchased it in nineteen fifty-three, and it is now one of the few Sasanian objects in the museum that is not a plate or a cup.
Did You Know? The head is hollow and open at the neck, which is why curators think it once capped the end of a throne arm or a piece of ceremonial furniture.
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