PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 323-30 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN POLYCHROME STUCCO APIS BULL HEAD PROTOME
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 323-30 B.C.
8 1/2 in. (21.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Private collection, Germany, acquired prior to 1980.
Property from a European Private Collection; Antiquities, Sotheby's, New York, 14 June 2000, lot 220.
with Jean-David Cahn, Basel, 2001 (Tiere und Mischwesen II, Katalog 13, no. 90).
Antiquities, Christie's, London, 2 April 2014, lot 57.

Literature

W. Hornbostel, Aus Gräbern und Heiligtümern. Die Antikensammlung Walter Kropatschek, Mainz, 1980, p. 276 f., no. 158.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Claudio Corsi Specialist, Head of Department

ccorsi@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2607

Lot Essay

The white triangle over the forehead is characteristic of an Apis bull and together with the horns and a sun-disc would have produced the figure of an Ankh-sign. The lolling tongue would suggest that this represents a sacrificial bull, whose skulls were often displayed to serve as fertility symbols.

More from Antiquities

View All