Treasures of Afghanistan At the Asian, #1

Yesterday a friend of mine and I went to visit the Asian. She writes the delightful blog Zoomie Station (link on the sidebar), and has worked at the Honolulu Academy of Art and the SFAI so, aside from food, we have a shared interest in art. Besides she's just one of the nicest people that I know and a great companion for my bubbling enthusiasm for this exhibit. After we'd gone through twice, first to just look, second to pick out all our favorite pieces, she now put me to the most difficult test of all. If I could only choose one piece, which one would I choose? Now, that's the real $65,000,000 question - price adjusted to allow for inflation. This is the one that she chose. It's difficult to tell from the photo but this exquisite piece is so small that it would fit in the palm of your hand.

Statuette of a mountain goat:
Afghanistan, Tillia tepe, tomb IV
1st century. Gold 5.2 x 4.0 cm
Musée National d’Afghanistan – MK 04.40.399
All photos © Thierry Ollivier / musée Guimet