A LARGE AND HEAVY ‘SNAKE AND LION’ CHLORITE STEMCUP, JIROFT CULTURE, 3RD MILLENNIUM BC
Southeastern Iran, c. 2800-2300 BC. Well and boldly carved, the cup raised on a tall stem with a spreading foot, decorated to the exterior with two wide bands, the upper depicting intertwined snakes fighting lions standing on their hind legs, and the lower with intertwined confronted snakes.


Provenance:
French trade, by repute formerly in a French private collection built between ca. 1980 and 2012 and thence by descent.

Condition:
Good condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear overall. Signs of weathering and erosions, encrustations, and small chips, all as expected for a vessel over five thousand years old.

Weight: 1,675 g
Dimensions: Height 20.8 cm


This large and finely carved ceremonial vessel belongs
to a class of chlorite artifacts from southeastern Iran described as Jiroft from the name of the area where they were produced in antiquity. The motif of the lion fighting a snake is a recurrent one on these types of vessels and appears several times amongst the famous corpus of unexcavated artifacts published by Madjidzadeh (see Jiroft, The Earliest Civilization, Teheran, 2003, pp. 76-94).


In the region of Jiroft
, a large number of chlorite vessels and objects, carrying human and animal motifs, have been discovered. This discovery is of particular importance since little is known about the region’s history, and its proximity to the Cradle of Civilization makes it of vital importance to understanding the environment in which the first written historical records emerged. In the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, the Iranian plateau was at the crossroads of trade with its neighboring regions. It is located 1000 km from the valley of the Euphrates in the west and from the Indus River in the east. The exceptional development of the Jiroft culture can be accounted for by the distinctive environment of the region, which is in a deep depression, very different from the broad basins created on the plateau by the disappearance of large salt lakes.


Literature comparison:

Compare closely related chlorite vessels in the Archaeology Museum of Jiroft, Iran, some of which were included in the exhibition “Iran, Frühe Kulturen zwischen Wasser und Wüste, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, 13 April-20 August 2017”.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 6 March 2021, lot 692
Price: EUR 16,432 or approx.
EUR 19,415
adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large Western Asiatic chlorite bowl, 3rd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the related material, manner of carving, lack of recesses for inlays, and subject of fighting animals. Note the different form and the size (29.5 cm).


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 30 September 2015, lot 66
Estimate: GBP 10,000 or approx.
EUR 17,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A ‘figural style’ green chlorite vessel, circa late 3rd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the related material and motif. Note the different form, recesses for inlays, and the size (25 cm).