This solid cast bronze bracelet is impressive both for its size and for the strength of its abstract decoration. The bracelet is cast in two halves that are connected at one point by a hinge, allowing the bracelet to swing open to fit onto the wearer’s wrist. The opposite connection is held shut by a pin, now lost.

The motifs that decorate the top half of the bracelet combine geometric shapes with naturalistic motifs, such as a central panel with a stylized butterfly. On either side of the butterfly are panels with human faces, probably female, that feature large, almond shaped eyes, prominent noses, and lines of raised dots and bands above the forehead that could represent an elaborate headdress or coiffure.

Bronze figures, tools and ornaments, such as our bracelet, are part of the material culture of the region known as Luristan in Central Asia. The ancestral homeland of the Kassite civilization, a strong tradition of metalwork emerged during the 4th millennium B.C. and saw its flowering during the Iron Age, between the 12th – 6th centuries B.C.

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