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_900x900.jpg "Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture")
_200x200.jpg "Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture")
_900x900.jpg "Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture")
_200x200.jpg "Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture")
.jpg "Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture")
.jpg "Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture")
LOT 0145
Large Roman Marble Bull's Head Sculpture
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.- 2ND CENTURY A.D.
20 in. (98 kg, 51 cm).
Life-size bull's head (bucranium) on a rectangular field with flattened upper face and small ledge overhang; modelled in the half-round with detailed eyes, muzzle and dewlap, plain background; tooled texture to the forehead and dewlap; Eastern Empire. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
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.12081-213373.
Cf. similar item in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under accession no.99.17; for various similar examples s. Mendel, G., Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines, Constantinople, 1914, nos.1151 (381), 1164-1166 (300,1152,1139), 1282-1283 (2015-2016), vol.III, pp.493-494.
FootnotesThe bucranium was used as a prominent motif on the exterior of Graeco-Roman temples where it replaced the use of genuine severed heads from the sacrificial rites. Garlands were draped over the heads on feast-days and occasions of special religious observance. The flattened upper face suggests an architectural use, perhaps as a corbel.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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