Russia, Perm region, Perm Animal Style (Permian Animal Style), ca. 8th to 9th centuries CE. A short-handled white bronze (a copper alloy with a high percentage of tin) spoon with an oval scoop and rectangular curved handle. At the end of the handle is a large punched-out oval, presumably for hanging up the spoon in a house or hanging it off of a belt when traveling. The handle is decorated with an animal's head - probably a bear, but maybe a fox or wolf. The head is depicted from the front, confronting the viewer, with ears, eyes, and nose emphasized. Twisted grooves, like a rope design, run down either side of the handle. The back of the spoon has a slight vertical indentation. This piece looks very similar to several found in a particular burial complex/cemetery near the village of Pleso; they also look much like some found on the bank of the river More-yu in the tundra at a location known as a "sacred place". The similarities between all these artifacts may indicate that they were made by a single workshop. The spoon is a fascinating cultural object, often a prized personal item at a time when the average person owned very little; spoons made of precious metal were so highly valued that they were often listed in inventories of royal or noble households. The animal decoration, discussed more below, perhaps had personal significance to this spoon's owner. There are clear signs of use - with the wear to the handle - but the item was probably ultimately buried with its final owner. Size: 1.3" W x 3.4" H (3.3 cm x 8.6 cm)

The Perm Animal Style is associated with a loosely culturally connected group of people known as the Finno-Ugric peoples who lived in west central Siberia, from modern day Perm north to the Arctic Sea. They freely took artistic influence from those who came before them, like the Scytho-Siberians, and from colonists from the west, like the Vikings, but developed their own clear style that archaeologists know from graves scattered throughout the taiga. Birds of prey, ungulates like reindeer, canines, and bears abound in their iconography; human representations are also common. These zoomorphic designs seem to share some common culture with the fantastical animals of pagan Viking art, but with some major stylistic differences. Notably, like the Scythians who occupied much of this landscape before them, they tend to focus on individual elements of animals - beaks, feet, claws, mouths, and eyes. Imagining the lifestyle of people in the vast regions of the north - both in taiga and in forest - animals hardy enough to live through the dark winters would have been of great interest and probably played major roles in their folklore as well as being human companions and fellow hunters (birds of prey), food sources (reindeer), and threats (bears and wolves). This iconographic style had remarkable uniformity of design across a vast region and long time period. Although nearly all of our knowledge comes from grave goods, these items seem to have been extensively used in life based upon wear patterns (unlike some other cultures, where goods are produced solely to be placed in graves). They were probably worn on the belt of their owner in life, at a time (which continued into the medieval European period) when flashing, jingling decoration was in fashion. Today, as climate change causes the melting of the permafrost in Siberia, many of these archaeological sites are thawing (and threatened), presenting an opportunity to learn more about these elusive ancient people.

See the museum catalogue from the Collection of Bronzes IX-XII th c. AD from the Fine Arts Museum of Surgut, CXM publishers, 2000.

Provenance: Ex-Private LA County collection acquired over 20 years ago

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#117564

Excellent, with slight wear indicating use but clear shape and design.