Anthropomorphic Head with Horns

10th-8th century BCE · Sculpture

May one see it?

Yes, receiving visitors

Harvard Art Museums

Cambridge, United States

Room3440, floor 3, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art

On public display.

Checked: 16 hours ago
In this state since: Sep 27, 2026
Source: The museum's own collection data

On the map Museum page

About the sculpture

This anthropomorphic horned head is characterized by large disc eyes, a long prominent nose, and a small mouth. The flat protruding ears have holes in the centers, and the forehead is embellished with a fillet that incorporates a bulbous ornament. An irregular hole, perhaps an area of damage, punctures the bottom of the long neck.

The back of this head is undecorated and concave. The reverse edges create a stabilizing frame, and on the back of the head above each ear is a perforated flap. It is unclear whether this object would have been part of a composite work or intended as a freestanding, suspended, or mounted image.

Read on

The Harvard head has no immediate parallels. However, it is stylistically affiliated with a corpus of horned anthropometric copper alloy figures known as “Piravend Figures” (1). Piravend refers to the village from which these works are said to derive, although none has been scientifically excavated, and the authenticity of many is questioned (2).

NOTES:

1. See E. de Waele, Bronzes du Luristan et d’Amlash, Publications d’historie de l’art et d’archeologie de l’Université Catholique de Louvain 34 (Louvain-La-Neuve, 1982) 240-41, nos. 397-98; P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1971) 168-70, nos. 211-15, pl. 40; J. A. H. Potratz, Luristanbronzen: Die einstmalige Sammlung Professor Sarre Berlin (Istanbul, 1968) 32, nos. 123-27, pls. 22-23; and J. Rickenbach, Magier mit Feuer und Erz: Bronzekunst der frühen Bergvölker in Luristan, Iran (Zurich, 1992) 194-96, nos. 221-23.

2. See P. R. S. Moorey et al., Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics, and Seals: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection of Ancient Near Eastern, Central Asiatic, and European Art (Los Angeles, 1981) 101-104, nos. 575-92.

Amy Gansell

Harvard Art Museums