South Arabian Alabaster Plaque with Bull's Head

3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.

7 7/8 in. (2.09 kg total, 19.8 cm including stand).

Comprising a square panel with a bull's head in low-relief, striated eyes and flaring nostrils, a thick tuft of hair arranged between the eyes, shallow acanthus leaf between curved horns, inscription on the rectangular space at the bottom of the panel; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Provenance

UK collection, 1990s.
Acquired on the UK art market, before 2000.
Private collection, Mr M.V., a London-based businessman.

Literature

Cf. Cleveland R.L., An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis, objects from the second campaign (1951) in the Timna Cemetery, Baltimore, 1951, pp.36ff, and pl.61ss, for similar examples (esp.61).

Footnotes

The presence of these representations in South Arabian cemeteries attests to the importance of the bull in the religious iconography of pre-Islamic Arabia.

CONDITION

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LOT 0241