BOUCLIER PERSE, BRONZE, CIRCA 1ER MILLÉNAIRE AV. J.-C. A PERSIAN BRONZE SHIELD, CIRCA EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C., the convex shield with cutaway sides, hemispherical bosses attached around the perimeter and a central studded circular plate, the reverse with a reinforcement band around the edge, 47.5cm high, 44.5cm wide, 4.3cm deep Footnotes: Provenance: Axel Guttmann (1944-2001) collection, Berlin (AG 287). The Art of Warfare, the Axel Guttmann Collection, Part I; Christie's, London, 6 November 2002, lot 30. Antiquities from the Axel Guttmann Collection and Other Properties; Hermann Historica, Munich, 11 April 2008, lot 300. Persian shields served both practical and dedicatory purposes and were sometimes used as votive offerings to gods. Depictions of Persian shields can be seen on the bronze gates of Balawat which record the Assyrian campaigns against the Urartians in the 9th Century B.C. Shields are also depicted on bronze belts of the same period showing parading foot soldiers holding small shields. cf. R. Merhav (ed.) Urartu, a Metalworking Center in the First Millennium B.C.E., The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1991, p. 134 fig. 9. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com