Breastplate fragment

Object Details

• Label

  This is a fragment from the lower part of a much larger pectoral, or breastplate, made of sheet metal and embellished with figures and ornament arranged in horizontal bands.

  A breastplate shielded the chest from arrows or other weapons. The decoration on this example consists of mythical guardian creatures, whose images were believed to provide magical protection for the wearer.

  A pectoral made of thin sheet gold, like this one, would have been attached to a sturdier material, probably leather. Given the fragility and cost of the material and its intricate decoration, the pectoral may have been fashioned specifically for ceremonial use or burial equipment.

  Other fragments of this breastplate are today in the Cincinnati Art Museum and in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Fragments from a second gold breastplate are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the National Museum in Teheran.

• Provenance

  From at least 1957 to 1966

  Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981). [1]

  From 1966 to 1986

  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. [2]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, transferred from Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC [3]

  Notes:

  [1] The object was published in the Royal Ontario Museum’s publication in 1957, which states that it belonged to Mr. Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s collection at the time. See Needler, Winifred (1957). Four Near Eastern Antiquities Lent by Mr. Joseph H. Hirshhorn. Royal Ontario Museum Bulletin of the Division of Art and Archaeology, 9-10, pl. 3A. See also Curatorial Remark 4 in the object record.

  [2] See document from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, object file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran (February 4, 2012 - ongoing)

  Gold: The Asian Touch (September 10, 2005 to February 20, 2006)

  Metalwork and Ceramics from Ancient Iran (November 19, 1992 to January 22, 2004)

  Nomads and Nobility: Art from the Ancient Near East (September 28, 1987 to November 1, 1992)

  7,000 ans d'art en Iran (October 1961 to January 1962)

  Untitled Exhibition, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1957 (1957)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981)

  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

• Origin

  Northwestern Iran

• Credit Line

  Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution

• Type

  Weapon and Armament

• On View

  Sackler Gallery 21: Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Hirshhorn, Joseph H.

• Topic

  Trees, Iron Age III (ca. 800 - 500 BCE), Repoussé, Gold, Art, Ancient Near Eastern Art, Bulls, Griffin, Chasing, Metal-work

• Culture

  Iranians, Middle Easterners

• Object Type

  Weapons, Armor (protective wear)

• On View

  Yes