Attila’s Daughter

“Daughter of Attila”
Carved from a solid piece of mammoth ivory, this 12 cm sculpture embodies the image of a woman from the Hun tribal alliance, whose westward expansion in the early 370s AD triggered the Great Migration and accelerated the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

It is believed that the European Huns descended from Asiatic tribes who moved westward after their defeat in 155 AD, merging with local nomadic cultures in what is now southern Russia. Archaeological discoveries — weapons, gold ornaments, horse harnesses, and depictions of mounted warriors — allow us to reconstruct the appearance and status of these formidable women.

Hun women wore diadems adorned with trefoils and pendants at the left temple. Their belts, narrower than those of men, bore swords, daggers, amulets, mirrors, combs, and purses — tools of survival, beauty, and power. During Attila’s era, swords were double-edged, 70–80 cm long, with eagle-headed crossguards and wooden scabbards reinforced with bronze cramps. Suspended diagonally, they suited the needs of mounted warriors.

Created in 2003, this sculpture conveys not only ethnographic precision but also the inner strength of a woman shaped by the legacy of nomadic empire.

USA, private collection.