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Oxus Civilization. Boldly carved as a stylized crouching simian, the torso hunched forward, with truncated forepaws and rising to a rounded head. The abstracted face is marked by a pair of incised circular eyes, a flattened muzzle with a straight mouthline, and pointed ears resting close against the head. The finely polished, opaque stone is of a creamy yellow tone, with natural inclusions, orange and light-brown shading.
Provenance: A private collection in Switzerland, acquired prior to 1971. Collection of Joseph Uzan, Gallery Samarcande, Paris, France, acquired from the above. A copy of the invoice, dated 2 December 2011, confirming the attribution and dating above, for a group of three alabaster monkeys, including the present lot, accompanies this lot. Joseph Uzan was a Paris-based antiquities dealer and collector and the founder of Galerie Samarcande, established in 1973 at 13 rue des Saints-Pères in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. Over several decades, he developed a particular passion and scholarly expertise in archaeological material and works of art from the ancient Mediterranean, the Near East, and the Islamic world. Through Galerie Samarcande, Uzan became an established figure in the international antiquities trade, maintaining close relationships with notable private collectors, dealers, and public institutions, and handling numerous works that subsequently entered major museum collections, including the Musée du Louvre, the Musée Guimet, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Princeton University Art Museum. From 2013 onwards, the direction of the gallery passed progressively to his daughter, Sabrina Uzan-Kaminski, who continued the family activity in archaeology and ancient art.
Condition: Good condition, with expected wear, traces of weathering and erosion, signs of prolonged burial, old repairs, including at the neck and right leg, old fills, and scattered small chips. The stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into fine hairline cracks. Considering the age of the piece, approximately 3,000-4,000 years, its overall state of preservation is exceptional.
Weight: 4.6 kg (excl. stand), 4.8 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 27.2 cm (excl. stand), 28.8 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated wood stand. (2)
The Oxus Civilization or Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), recently dated to c. 2250-1700 BC, is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age civilization of Central Asia, previously dated to c. 2400-1900 BC, by Sandro Salvatori, in its urban phase or integration era. Though it may be called the ‘Oxus civilization’, apparently centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus River) in Bactria, most of the BMAC’s urban sites are actually located in Margiana (modern Turkmenistan) on the Murghab river delta and the Kopet Dagh mountain range. There are a few later sites in northern Bactria (c. 1950–1450 BC), the territory of southern Uzbekistan, but they are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site, known as Dashli, lies in southern Bactria, the territory of northern Afghanistan. Sites found further east, in southwestern Tajikistan, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them. BMAC sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi when he was excavating in northern Afghanistan between 1969 and 1979. Sarianidi’s excavations revealed numerous monumental structures in many sites, fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were mostly confined to Soviet journals. A journalist from The New York Times wrote in 2001 that during the years of the Soviet Union, the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi’s work began to be translated in the 1990s.
The present figure belongs to an exceedingly rare and enigmatic group of stylized anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures dating to the Bactrian Bronze Age, carved from alabaster, calcite, and other soft stones. Works of this type share a number of recurring features, including highly schematic volumes, finely polished surfaces, circular drilled or incised eyes, limbs reduced to abbreviated projections, and sometimes cavities possibly intended to receive separately made elements.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 6 December 2007, lot 64
Price: USD 7,500 or approx. EUR 10,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Bactrian alabaster seated monkey, circa 2nd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of carving. Note the smaller size (20.3 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 11 December 2003, lot 108
Price: USD 15,535 or approx. EUR 25,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Bactrian calcite-alabaster idol, circa 2nd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, with similar facial features, manner of carving, and stone. Note the smaller size (19.4 cm).
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