SICILY, ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 550-500 B.C.

Details

A GREEK TERRACOTTA ZOOMACHIA
SICILY, ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 550-500 B.C.
Hand-modelled and sculpted in the round, depicting a lion savaging a bull, the muscular feline attacking from above, biting the bull's neck, grasping its flank within his forepaws, the lion's mane a series of flame-like protrusions, the tail originally looping forward with the tassel centered on his back, the bull collapsing with his head turned to his right and raised, his neck creased from the pull of the lion's jaws, the bull's mouth open, his tail curving forward along his left flank; preserving traces of red pigment
13 7/8 in. (35.2 cm.) long

Provenance

Private Collection, acquired in Europe and brought to Arizona in the mid 1960s-early 1970s; thence by descent.

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Lot Essay

For a zoomachia of similar style, though in relief rather than in the round, compare the terracotta altar from Centuripe, now in the Museo Archeologico Regionale "Paolo Orsi" di Siracusa, no. 53 in Bennett and Paul, Magna Graecia, Greek Art from South Italy and Sicily. The lions are particularly close in style, as both share the same applied flame-like locks for the mane. In addition, both are made from a similar pale beige fabric with many black inclusions.

The Wilson Estate in Arizona was a Michael Taylor design. Mr. Taylor is described in Salny, Michael Taylor, Interior Design as "one of the most innovative, imitated and internationally respected design icons of the twentieth century... [who] brought with him a new vision that changed California's, and the profession's approach to interiors."

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