LOT 0266

Urartu Bull-Headed Bronze Cauldron Applique Pair

8TH CENTURY B.C.

3 1/8 - 5 1/8 in. (790 grams total, 8-13 cm wide).

Matched pair of bovine-head mounts, each formed as a pair of D-shaped wings and a tail with low-relief feather detailing and holes to accept rivets; central head and neck of a bull with prominent horns, bands of curly hair to the pate and throat, large scaphoid eyes, incised contour detailing to muzzle, socket to reverse. [2]

From the warehouse of Lane Hope Ltd, London, UK, 1980s (company dissolved December 1991).
Private collection, UK; anonymous sale, Gorny & Mosch, Munich, Auction 206, 20 June 2012, no.85.
European private collection, acquired at Gorny & Mosch, 2012.

Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.6210.AM.
Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Gorny & Mosch catalogue pages.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12696-234610.

Cf. Mildenburg Collection, no.18 (Reign of Argishti II, King of Urartu, 713-685 B.C.); also see Sotheby's, New York, 17 December 1998, no.218, for a similar single example ($25,000-$35,000).

The fitting would have been one of four to the rim of a large bronze cauldron. Urartu was centered in eastern Anatolia, around Lake Van; the capital, Tushpa, was located on the eastern shore of the lake, situated on a high and elongated rock outcrop. Most sites boasted a well-built temple situated at the highest point, as well as a number of large storage rooms containing rows of large vessels for storing oil and grains, and massive well-built fortification walls.