Anatolian Bronze Bull

Culture: Anatolia

Period: early to mid 2nd millennium B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 4.5 cm x 5.8 cm

Price: Sold

Ref: 6507

Provenance: From the private collection Franz-Josef Bach, who worked as the German ambassador in Iran. The collection Bach was auction on 12 Dcember 1973 with Drouot Paris, where the bull was described and pictured as lot 151 in the catalogue. There acquired by the collection J. C., Paris.

Condition: Intact

Description: Charming stylized solid bronze bull from Anatolia worked out in high quality. The animal stands on thin long legs, where the joints are clearly accentuated forward and backward. The hooves are worked out and flat. The buttock is large and round, in the centre the long, slightly twisted tail starts, which is curved to the right and rests on the right hindleg. Below the buttock is the male genital of the bull. The body is strikingly slender and has a round cross-section. The stylized head is raised and sits on a stretched neck with a vertical skin fold. The horns are curved forward, just behind are small ears which lie on the neck. The eyes are large and button-shaped and vigilantly looking straight, the large mouth with broad nostrils is trumpet-shaped. The bull was possibly part of a cart. These small models were found as votive offerings in Bronze Aged tombs in Anatolia. See Christie’s London auction on 2 April 2014, lot 30, or “Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art”, New York, 1988, p. 414-415, number 568.