{
"data": {
"id": 136839,
"accession_number": "1961.33",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Master of Animals Cheekpiece, c. 700 BCE. Iran, Luristan. Bronze, cast and incised; overall: 14.9 x 21.3 cm (5 7/8 x 8 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1961.33",
"current_location": "102A Ancient Near East",
"title": "Master of Animals Cheekpiece",
"creation_date": "c. 700 BCE",
"creation_date_earliest": -725,
"creation_date_latest": -675,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Iran, Luristan"
],
"technique": "bronze, cast and incised",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art",
"collection": "Near Eastern Art",
"type": "Metalwork",
"measurements": "Overall: 14.9 x 21.3 cm (5 7/8 x 8 3/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.149,
"height_inch": 5,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.875,
"width": 0.213,
"width_inch": 8,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.375
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 302039,
"title": "Year in Review (1961)",
"description": "Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).",
"opening_date": "1961-11-01T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 304550,
"title": "A Cleveland Bestiary",
"description": "A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).",
"opening_date": "1981-10-15T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 310042,
"title": "Images of the Mind",
"description": "Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).",
"opening_date": "1987-07-07T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Mrs. Christian R. Holmes",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Mozzaffar Cohen, Paris",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Mrs. Christian R. Holmes; Mozaffar Cohen, Paris",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The Master of Animals may represent a god of nature or the hunt.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "In this cast bronze cheekpiece, a horned male figure with sidelocks grabs two winged felines by their forelegs. Each feline tramples a rabbit beneath its feet. This design is an ancient Near Eastern motif known as the Master of Animals. Incised chevrons, lines, and crosses decorate the master and the winged felines. A ring penetrating the male figure\u2019s torso provides a means of attachment for a metal horse bit, now missing, and a second cheekpiece, likely nearly identical. This work likely originates from Luristan, a region in northwestern Iran known for its metalworking and horse-breeding in the Iron Age.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60748806"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1961.33-horse-bit-cheekpiece",
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1961.33-master-of-animals-ch"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 11",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n35"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 11",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n33"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 4",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n24"
},
{
"citation": "Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 19; Mentioned: p. 16, p. 60",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Ratti, Antonio. \u201cThe Mystery of the Luristan Bronzes Still Puzzles Archaeologists.\u201d National Geographic. January 7, 2022.",
"page_number": "",
"url": "https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/the-mystery-of-the-luristan-bronzes-still-puzzles-archaeologists"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.33",
"images": {
"annotation": null,
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.33/1961.33_web.jpg",
"width": "1263",
"height": "876",
"filesize": "749372",
"filename": "1961.33_web.jpg"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.33/1961.33_print.jpg",
"width": "3400",
"height": "2359",
"filesize": "5511498",
"filename": "1961.33_print.jpg"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.33/1961.33_full.tif",
"width": "4848",
"height": "3364",
"filesize": "48957952",
"filename": "1961.33_full.tif"
}
},
"alternate_images": [
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.33/1961.33_alt0_web.jpg",
"width": "1232",
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"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.33/1961.33_alt0_print.jpg",
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"full": {
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},
"date_created": "2009-02-17T19:30:26",
"annotation": ""
}
],
"creditline": "Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 136839,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1961-02-20T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": -725,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 700 BCE",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [
"Cheek Plaque of Horse Bit"
],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-29 06:59:01.191000"
}
}