Figure of a wild goat (forgery)

Object Details

• Description

  Wild goat, rearing, with front legs bent double, standing on a tube-like support with chevron pattern and a central rib in relief. Gold, hollow; a band of fine gold wire over center of body. Originally one of two handles of an amphora-shaped vase. Cf. 63.15. Cracks in front of neck and ears. Weight: 4-1/2 oz.

• Provenance

  Likely 1956

  Reportedly unearthed at Ghaflantou, near Ziwiye, or Persepolis, Iran [1]

  By 1960

  Appeared on the art market in Tehran, Iran [2]

  By 1961-1963

  K. Rabenou, New York, method of acquisition unknown [3]

  From 1963

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from K. Rabenou, New York [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See Roman Ghirshman, “Rich Treasures of Persian Animal Art – Recently Discovered, Gold, Silver and Bronze: Master Works of Ancient Iranian Artists,” “The Illustrated London News,” April 2, 1960, 550-551, fig. 8. Ghirshman wrote that “A little distance from this village of Ziwiye is an important hill called Ghaflantou. There, it appears, were found two wild goats in gold (Fig. 8), which formed the handles of a vase in the shape of an amphora which no longer survives.” He indicates that the pair may have been among a group of objects that were discovered by locals engaged in clandestine excavations four years earlier (ca. 1956), and then appeared on the market in Tehran “that is, if we accept the dealers’ statements.” Both objects are pictured in fig. 8. Ghirshman is also cited by Oscar Muscarella, “Unexcavated Objects and Ancient Near Eastern Art,” in “Mountains and Lowlands: Essays in the Archaeology of Greater Mesopotamia,” ed. Louis D. Levine and T. Cuyler Young, Jr. (Undena Publications, 1977), 179. See also object file for copy of 1964 curatorial comment by R. Ettinghausen: “I was confidentially told in Tehran that this pair of handles was found in (clandestine) excavations in Persepolis. This may be true, or only the usual connection with a famous site.”

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See object file for copy of Freer Gallery of Art vault record card, no. V37.61ab, indicating that on March 14, 1961, K. Rabenou left the objects with the Freer for examination. The objects are described as “Pair of gold handles, from a vase, Persian, Achaemenian, 6th/5th century B.C.; in form of rearing ibexes.”

  Khalil Rabenou (1906-1961) was an Iranian American art dealer with an eponymous gallery in New York which specialized in antiquities of the ancient Near East. Khalil’s brother Ayub (1902-1984), also spelled Ayoub, was possibly among the first Teherani antiquaires to acquire bronze objects from the source site rather than through the nearby market towns, and he loaned numerous objects to the 1931 Persian Art exhibition at the Royal Academy. Khalil’s wife Elsa (ca. 1910-2000) and their daughter, Yris Rabenou Solomon (1935-2022), would manage the business following his death.

  [4] F1963.15 was acquired from K. Rabenou as part of a pair with F1964.6. The Freer Gallery of Art paid K. Rabenou in installments for both F1963.15 and F1964.6, the first on September 13, 1963, and the last on May 26, 1964. The acquisition was approved by the Secretary of the Smithsonian on April 18, 1961.

  Research updated November 24, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Ancient Near Eastern Metalware (December 18, 1984 to February 24, 1986)

  Pre-Islamic Metalwork from the Near East (April 15, 1983 to April 4, 1984)

  Art of the Near East (August 21, 1977 to December 14, 1979)

  Near Eastern Art (June 15, 1973 to May 7, 1975)

  2500 Years of Persian Art—Paintings, Metalwork (February 10, 1972 to June 15, 1973)

  Near Eastern Art—Paintings, Metalwork (August 18, 1967 to February 10, 1972)

  Near Eastern Art (January 1, 1963 to August 18, 1967)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Khalil Rabenou (1906-1961)

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1800s, 1960s

• Name

  Rabenou, Khalil

• Topic

  Gold, Art, Wirework, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Goat, Forgery, Metal-work

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners

• Object Type

  Sculpture