.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
The Art of Ancient Cyprus, pp. 265-269, pls. 290 and 291, and p. 186, pl. 215.
This rare example of a Scenic Composition (for importance of Scenic Compositions see note on lot 190) appears to represent a deer-milking scene, with a human figure shown sitting on a low milking stool, equipped with a milk jug and milk bowl. The artist portrays the female deer by an absence of adam's apple (distinctive of the male of the species) but includes antlers, although anatomically incorrect for a female, to indicate the species. This device was often employed by artists in ancient Cyprus; antlered females are portrayed elsewhere suckling their fawns.
Desmond Morris writes "Of the two deer, the male is shown pointing away from the figure on the stool while the female appears to be approaching, as if the artist is trying to suggest that the stag is not involved, but his female is.
If this is the correct interpretation, then this is the first evidence we have that the Mesopotamian Fallow Deer was employed as a milk-supplying animal. Such usage is well known for reindeer and there is no reason why, once a year, the ancient Cypriots should not have exploited their deer in this way. For those who favour religious scenarios it is not unreasonable to suggest that this annual deer-milking had some sacred connotation and that the liquid obtained was put to some ritual use. Alternatively, obtaining milk in this way may simply have been one of the ordinary, seasonal domestic activities of Bronze Age farmers.
The only other possible explanation of the scenic composition on this jug is that the deer are about to be killed and their blood ceremonially collected in the jug and the bowl. Although this remains a possibility, the milking interpretation is favoured because of the special positioning of the male and female deer."
The Art of Ancient Cyprus, pp. 265-269, pls. 290 and 291, and p. 186, pl. 215.
This rare example of a Scenic Composition (for importance of Scenic Compositions see note on lot 190) appears to represent a deer-milking scene, with a human figure shown sitting on a low milking stool, equipped with a milk jug and milk bowl. The artist portrays the female deer by an absence of adam's apple (distinctive of the male of the species) but includes antlers, although anatomically incorrect for a female, to indicate the species. This device was often employed by artists in ancient Cyprus; antlered females are portrayed elsewhere suckling their fawns.
Desmond Morris writes "Of the two deer, the male is shown pointing away from the figure on the stool while the female appears to be approaching, as if the artist is trying to suggest that the stag is not involved, but his female is.
If this is the correct interpretation, then this is the first evidence we have that the Mesopotamian Fallow Deer was employed as a milk-supplying animal. Such usage is well known for reindeer and there is no reason why, once a year, the ancient Cypriots should not have exploited their deer in this way. For those who favour religious scenarios it is not unreasonable to suggest that this annual deer-milking had some sacred connotation and that the liquid obtained was put to some ritual use. Alternatively, obtaining milk in this way may simply have been one of the ordinary, seasonal domestic activities of Bronze Age farmers.
The only other possible explanation of the scenic composition on this jug is that the deer are about to be killed and their blood ceremonially collected in the jug and the bowl. Although this remains a possibility, the milking interpretation is favoured because of the special positioning of the male and female deer."