LOT 0255

Achaemenid Gold Ring with Agate Bull

CIRCA 500 B.C.

1 in. (4.71 grams, 27.98 mm overall, 19.07 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)).

Comprising a round-section swivel ring set with a carved Apis bull depicted recumbent with its head turned to the right.

Private collection, UK.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12939-245988.

For similar see Musée du Louvre, Paris: AF 11092 and N 2090; The British Museum: 1947,1011.2 and 1918,0411.15; Metropolitan Museum of Art: 30.8.418, and the Fitzwilliam Museum: E.GA.21.1947.

The Apis bull was a sacred animal in ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as a living manifestation of the god Ptah and later associated with Osiris and Ra. Regarded as an intermediary between the gods and humanity, the Apis bull was chosen based on specific physical characteristics, such as a black coat with unique white markings. Once identified, it was housed in a grand temple in Memphis, where it was treated with great reverence, adorned with jewellery, and participated in important religious ceremonies. Upon its death, the bull underwent elaborate mummification and burial rituals, symbolising its transition to the afterlife and its continued divine role. The cult of the Apis bull highlights the Egyptians’ deep connection to animals as symbols of divine power and their belief in the interconnectedness of the mortal and spiritual worlds.