LATE URUK-JAMDAT NASR, CIRCA 3300-2900 B.C.

Details

A SUMERIAN STEATITE BULL CUP
LATE URUK-JAMDAT NASR, CIRCA 3300-2900 B.C.
Conical in form on a circular base, carved in raised relief with four bulls in procession to the left, each with its head turned out, the short horns downturned
2 ½ in. (6.4 cm.) diameter

Provenance

with Elias S. David (1891-1969), New York; thence by descent.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

According to L. Martin (p. 42 in J. Aruz, ed., Art of the First Cities, The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus), "Among material from the end of the Uruk period and the following Early Dynastic period, stone vessels are, after cylinder seals, the most important sources of pictorial information...vessels of this type were frequently found in palaces or religious structures, which suggests that they had a special function in such settings." For a similar example see no. 12, op. cit.

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