frieze
- Museum number
- 132525
- Description
-
Glazed brick relief panel: sand and lime mixture; shows the standing figure of an archer, facing right. He is wearing a richly decorated robe, with a twisted fillet around his head, shoes with three pairs of long laces, gold bracelets and plain annular ear-rings and carried a spear with a spherical ferrule on the butt resting on one foot, a quiver decorated with kidney-shaped coloured inlays, and a strung bow with tips ending in bird's heads. It is part of a larger frieze representing rows of guards, perhaps the 'Immortals' who formed the king's personal bodyguards, converging from left and right. Composed of separate moulded bricks covered in brown, yellow, white, green and black coloured glaze, with figure in low relief against flat light green glazed background. The bricks measure approximately 35 cm long x 8.5 cm high.
- Production date
- 6thC BC
- Dimensions
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Height: 198 centimetres (22 courses)
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Weight: 1120 pounds (weighed for 1975 gallery display)
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Width: 70 centimetres
- Curator's comments
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Labeled in G52 as
Glazed brick relief panel
6th century BC
Susa, East gate of Achaemenid palace
This was part of a larger frieze depicting rows of guards converging from left and right. Each carried a long spear with a metal butt, a quiver and a strung bow. A variety of polychrome glazed and unglazed relief-decorated bricks were used in the Achaemenid palace decoration at Susa. These included a monumental entrance staircase with rows of servants and crenellated battlements with rosettes and palmettes, roaring lions, winged bulls and griffins.
On permanent loan from the Musée du Louvre
WA 132525 / L.78
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Reconstructed from bricks found by Dieulafoy, de Morgan and Me Macquenem in area around entrance of Palace of Darius, western part of 'cour est'.
- Location
- On display (G52/dc5)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2006 7 Mar-11 Jun, Barcelona, Fundacion La Caixa, 'L'imperi Oblidat'
2005-2006 Sept-Jan, London, BM, 'Forgotten Empire'
G52/IRAN, from official opening.
G49/IRAN, from official opening 17/11/95.
- Condition
- Heavily restored from 55 separate fragments, with extensive overpainting
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 132525
- Registration number
- Loan.78
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: Sb 4001 (Louvre number)