Works of Art
Sardinian warrior figure
Period: Nouragic Art, 8th-7th Century B.C.
Culture: European, Etruscan, Iberian, Sardinian
Category: Statuary, Metalwork
Dimensions: Height: 10.5 cm
Price: CHF 76\'000, USD 65\'000
Provenance:
Ex-collection Barbier Muller, Geneva, acquired from Mathias Komor, New York (1974).
Description
This small statuette represents a man held standing by a “bifida tinge”. He wears a short tunic and a helmet patterned with large nails and a forward curving crest. He holds a spear in his left hand, which is resting on his shoulder, and carries a big shield on his back, held together on his chest by a baldric. A dagger in its scabbard rests on the chest, hanging from the baldric.
The nose is prominent and straight, whilst the large round eyes are protruding. The mouth is indicated by a bulge. The hair is rendered by linear strides emerging from the under the helmet. The warrior stands straight and raises an unusually large right arm in a sign of worship.
Such votive bronze figures appear in Sardinia around the 9th century B.C., probably under the influence of the Phoenicians, who for commercial reasons, were established on the coast line. These votive statuettes typically represent tribal chiefs, warriors, women, priestess or worshippers performing some sort of libation. Warriors are represented wearing a short tunic, or kilt, a helmet, sometimes a mantel, and their weapons (spear, javelin, bow, dagger, shield, etc..). Leg guards and leather breastplate complete the equipment. The dagger seams to be the distinctive sign of aristocracy. These weapons were discovered in votives hideouts or reproduced on objects in relation with the cult. Mr. J. Zervos has interpreted this element as the symbol that warriors and priests alike had to draw blood.
Bibliography
Published:
THIMME J., Kunst Sardiniens, Karlsruhe, 1980: n° 100.
ZIMMERMANN, J.L., Art Antique dans la Collection s du Musée Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 1991: p. 66, n°26.
Bibliography:
ZERVOS C., La civilisation de la Sardaigne du début de l’énéolithique à la fin de la période nouragique, IIe millénaire -Ve siècle avant notre ère, Paris, 1954, nos 115, 116, 174-175, 186, 188, 257.
THIMME J., Kunst der Sarden bis zum Ende der Nuraghenzeit, Bâle, 1983, nos 30, 33.
THIMME J, Kunst Sardiniens, Karlsruhe, 1980 : n° 100.
ZIMMERMANN J. L., Art Antique dans les Collections du Musée Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 1991 : p. 66, n° 26.