Solid Bronze Bull from the Central Asian Peoples of the Steppe

Culture: Central Asian Steppe

Period: mid 1st millennium B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 8.9 cm long

Price: Sold

Ref: 5239

Provenance: German private collection K., Hessen, Germany.

Condition: Intact

Description: Solid cast bronze statuette of a bull with long, semi-circular forward curved horns. The animal with sturdy, strong body, short straight legs and a spherical stubby tail. The head is massive, the snout truncated with pierced nostrils and a long mouth, which is almost formed to a smile. The eyes are round and bulging. Animal statuettes of wolves and bulls with similar features and these massive bodies are known from sculptures of the peoples of the steppes from the Altai Mountains and of Scythian and Sarmatian bronzes. See Arielle P. Kozloff “Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection”, Cleveland 1981, numbers 40 and 41.