Urartian Bronze Applique of a Winged Bull

Culture: Urartian

Period: 8th-7th century B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 8 cm x 13.1 cm

Price: Sold

Ref: 6409

Provenance: From an old European private collection, auctioned with Gorny&Mosch in the early 2000s. Thence in the collection Dimarco in Geneva, Switzerland.

Condition: Intact

Description: Magnificently worked out, massive bronze bull head with sideways protruding wings and feathered neck. The applique once decorated together with three similar bull heads a Urartian bronze cauldron, of which only four examples are completely preserved today. The bull with a strong neck and massive, turned up horns. His spoon-shaped ears are protruding horizontally and connected with a wavy filet along the neck. Large, bulging eyes between heavy lids. On the forehead a rectangular filet with ringlets on the sides. The slender face tapers to a strong, slightly open mouth with round nostrils. The wings and the chest are decorated with several rows of feathers in cold work. Possibly from Toprakkale in today’s southeastern Turkey. See for the type the completely preserved bronze cauldron in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara and in the Van Museum in Turkey. For a sole bull head see the example in the British Museum with the Reference Number 1880,1216.60. Mounted.