Oxus Treasure: statuette
- Gallery: Room 52
- Culture: Achaemenid
- Date: 5thC BC (about)
- Object type: statuette
- Materials: silver; gold
- Museum number: 123905
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is the "Oxus Treasure: statuette," a remarkable piece of ancient art from the Achaemenid culture. This silver figure depicts a nude youth standing with his arms close to his sides and his fists clenched. The surface of each fist is pierced with a vertical, circular hole. The youth wears a high, stiff, gilded cap that rolls forward over the forehead. His ears are pierced and the body is flattened at the back of the buttocks, suggesting it may originally have been part of another object.
The figure is made from silver and includes gold foil in the headdress, skillfully cast and chased. Though the exact purpose of the piece remains a subject of study, similar styles appear in objects from Persia and Central Asia. It was once part of an important collection in the 19th century, now shared with the world in this museum.
See it in person
Oxus Treasure: statuette is on display in Room 52 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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