LOT 0222

Bactrian Bronze Zebu Vessel with Stopper

1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

6 1/2 in. (870 grams, 16.5 cm wide).

Modelled in the round as a zebu standing four-square with head raised; columnar muzzle with shallow slit mouth, discoid eye-sockets to accept and inlay; lateral loops at the shoulder and tubular filler-hole; separate hump forming a lid with corresponding loops for attachment.

Private collection, New York, 1987.
with Bonhams, London, 1 May 2013, no.154.

Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages.
Accompanied by a copy of French passport no.119527.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12976-245249.

See a statuette of a zebu in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 64.7; for the iconography see Vats, M.S., Excavations at Harappā. In two volumes with plans and plates. V. II. 139 Plates, Delhi, 1940; Winkelmann, S., ‘Transformation of Near Eastern animal motifs in Murghabo-Bactrian Bronze Age art’ in Peruzzetto A. et al. Animals, Gods and Men from East to West. Papers on archaeology and history in honour of Roberta Venco Ricciardi, Eds. BAR International Series 2516, 2013, pp.47–64.

The majestic zebu bull, with its heavy dewlap and wide curving horns, was considered to be a symbol of majesty and power since the first civilizations of the Indus Valley. It was the leader of the herd, the strength and virility (then symbol of fecundity) of which protected the group and ensured the procreation of the species. This is the reason why it was often chosen for sacrificial rites. It probably represented the emblem of the most powerful clans or top classes of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa and it was the most impressive motif found in these cities, appearing constantly on painted pottery and bronze or clay figurines of the Indus area.