Bactrian Alabaster Big Idol - 305 mm

An important, beautiful rare colour stone (Bactrian alabaster) idol

Bactrian Period (End of the 3rd millennium BC – Beginning of the 2nd millennium BC)

Bactrian alabaster column idol. This piece belongs to an ancient culture known as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BCAM) or the Oxus Civilization. The Bactria-Margiana culture extended across an area encompassing the modern nations of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and northern Afghanistan. It flourished between 2100 and 1700 BCE, was contemporaneous with the European Bronze Age, and was characterized by monumental architecture, social complexity, and highly distinctive cultural artifacts that disappear from the record a few centuries after they first appear.

It was one of many economic and social entities in the surrounding area, and a powerful country due to the exceptional fertility and richness of its agricultural lands. This, in turn, gave rise to a complex and multifaceted set of societies with specialized artisans who produced luxury materials like this for the ruling and aristocratic elites. Trade appears to have been important, as Bactrian artifacts appear throughout the Persian Gulf, as well as on the Iranian Plateau and the Indus Valley. For this reason, the area was contested from deep prehistory through the medieval period by armies from Asia Minor, Greece (Macedonia), India, and the Arab states, among others. Through the local stone carvers who inhabited the Margiana and Bacteria regions, there was no shortage of material; the main raw material was soft soapstone or a dark soapstone, but also various types of marble and white-veined alabaster. The main source of these stones, including the semi-precious lapis lazuli, was in Bactria, at Badakhshan, in northwestern Afghanistan, which provided material not only for Bactrian and Margian carvers, but also further west in Mesopotamia, for the Assyrian kings. White-veined alabaster was effectively used for various vessels, including small vases with disproportionately long stems and low capacity, such as the one illustrated here.





In good condition. It has been cleaned by hand, but the nice antique patina is preserved. Original, ancient, hand cutting, carving, boring and grinding. Traces of use and age on its surface.

Purchased in 1995/London by Dr. Zelnik on the local art market.

Important information :

The seller guarantees that he is entitled to ship this lot.
Due to the complicated Cultural Laws we will not be able to ship this item outside of the EU nor to the United States.

Provenance :

This item comes from the collection of Dr. Zelnik, resulting from more than 50 years of collecting.
Former diplomat, Asian Arts collector, Researcher.

Publications :

More than 20 essays on Southeast-Asian politics and economy, presentations on international conferences.
Co-author of 10 albums and books on Southeast Asian Art.