A Rare Luristan Silver Master of Animals Finial, ca. 8th century BCE Weights & Measures transforming a utilitarian object into

transforming a utilitarian object into a marker of taste and affluence

" and "the Well of Everlasting Life

The conquest of an opposing team

although literary references speak of painting on wood

antefixes were a spiritual prophylactic against the evil eye and other malevolent influences (the Gorgon head motif was particularly popular in order to scare away such spirits)

A Rare Luristan Silver Master of Animals Finial, ca. 8th century BCE Weights & Measures transforming a utilitarian object intoThis fine openwork finial, cast using the lost wax method, comprises a figural register in a heavy square frame supported by a hollow shank. The top of the shank is defined by a pair of concentric ribs, between which a small loop, perhaps for a suspension chain, extends from the left. A long iron pin, separately made, extended up to the top of the shank but is now missing. The inside border of the frame is embellished with herringbone hatching. As the