Monstrous male figure

The work was reportedly found in the early 1960’s with five similar works near Faza, 75 kilometers southeast of Shiraz in the province of Fars in Iran. According to Roman Ghirshman, who published the work in 1963, the work was once in the Azizbeghlou collection in Tehran, Iran, but was sold before 1963. In 1966, the work was exhibited at the Musée Rath in Geneva, Switzerland and the catalogue accompanying the exhibition noted that the work was in a private collection. The Metropolitan Museum believes, but does not have independent confirmation, that the private collection was that of Charles Gillet, who died in 1966, or his partner, Marion Schuster, both of Lausanne, Switzerland. Marion Schuster apparently inherited all or most of Charles Gillet’s collection upon his death. When Marion Schuster died, one of her daughters, Mathilde de Goldschmidt Rothschild, who lived in Europe, inherited the work. On July 10, 1989, the work was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London, Antiquities from the Collection of the Late Madame Marion Schuster, Lausanne and by Descent the Property of Madame Mathilde de Goldschmidt Rothschild, as lot 59. In 1992, the work was sold by Robin Symes to Bodo Schöps, who, in 2004, transferred ownership to the Exartis Foundation. The Exartis Foundation then transferred ownership to Mrs. Hiroko Horiuchi who, in 2010, transferred ownership to Mr. Noriyoshi Horiuchi, from whom The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the work.

“Trésors de l'Ancien Iran.” Musée Rath, Geneva, June 8, 1966–September 25, 1966.

Ghirshman, Roman. 1963. "Notes iraniennes XII. Statuettes archaïques du Fars (Iran)." Artibus Asiae 26 (2), no. 2, p. 152, figs. 4-5.

Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève. 1966. Trésors de l'ancien Iran, exh. cat.: Musée Rath, Genève, 8 juin-25 septembre 1966, no. 26, p. 61, pl. 6.

Nagel, Wolfram. 1968. Frühe Plastik aus Sumer und Westmakkan. Berlin: Bruno Hessling, no. C, pp. 54-55, 58-59, pls. XVI, XVIII,1-2.

Sotheby’s. 1989. Antiquities from the Collection of the Late Madame Marion Schuster, Lausanne and by Descent the Property of Madame Mathilde de Goldschmidt Rothschild. 10 July 1989, London, lot 59.

Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 140 (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010), p. 13.

Muscarella, Oscar. 2000. The Lie Became Great.The Forgery of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, p. 132.

Benzel, Kim. 2010. "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2008-2010." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 68 (2), (Fall 2010), p. 4.

Vidale, Massimo. 2017. Treasures from the Oxus: The Art and Civilization of Central Asia. London: I. B. Tauris, p. 170 fig. 148.