5th-Century Relief Sold

A broken stone relief of two chariot horses from 5th-Century Persepolis has sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $606,000.

The fragment sold Thursday shows the heads of two steeds with their forelocks tied in knots with tassels. Sotheby’s said it formed part of a staircase in the great palace of Persepolis, founded by Darius the Great in the early 5th Century.

It matches another fragment from the same relief at the British Museum.

The relief was brought to England in the early 19th Century by Sir Gore Ouseley, British ambassador to the Court of Persia, according to Sotheby’s.

An antique dealer from Cheltenham sold it Thursday to an unidentified buyer.