*A RARE WESTERN ASIAN GOLD/ELECTRUM PIN WITH SWASTIKA.
Bactria, 3rd-2nd Millennium BCE
L. 13.2 cm; 14 gr.

Provenance
Swiss collection, acquired on the Parisian market, Binoche et Giquello, 30 May 2012, lot 96

In a very fine state of preservation, the shaft is topped with an openwork diamond-shaped section decorated with a swastika motif and spheres at the points.
The swastika is an ancient symbol that appears across many cultures, including in Bactria, a historical region in Central Asia (covering parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan). In Bactrian art and artifacts, particularly from the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, the swastika often appears as a geometric or solar motif, associated with good fortune, cosmic order, or eternity—long before its later appropriation in the 20th century. (see British Museum, a seal with the swastika, 1947,0416.8)

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Estimate: 5000 - 6000 CHF