Bactrian stone column idol
Varigated red stone of cylindrical waisted form, with shallow grooves across the top and base
Note
This piece belongs to the type of the so-called “column” idols that constitute a remarkably uniform group. It is always a monolith of cylindrical and concave shape whose base is wider than the top. The top, and sometimes the bottom, has an incised straight groove; there can be two of them forming “Y” or “X”. The most elaborated examples present the rim decorated with metal which is often a bronze sheet.
Period
Late 3rd-early 2nd Millenium B.C.
Dimension
H.
33.5 cm (13 3⁄16 in)
Ars Antiqua, Switzerland, acquired on the US market in 2000
Private collection, Switzerland
