Description:

Roman, Imperial period, Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 2nd to 4th century CE. A delightful bull's head spout free-blown from translucent blue glass with applied light green trailing forming the eyes and horizontal stripes along the neck. Stylized in form, the ancient animal displays a tapered snout surmounted by a swooping pair of horns above petite, perky ears. The bull was considered a deeply divine animal throughout antiquity - a meaningful symbol of the moon, fertility, rebirth, and power. We find the earliest depictions of bulls in Paleolithic cave paintings. Moreover, the veneration of the bull in Anatolia would influence several religious cults in antiquity: from the Minoan practice of bull-jumping in Crete, to the fervent worship of the Apis bull in Egypt, to the sacrificial practices of Roman Mithraism. Size: 1.2" W x 1.9" H (3 cm x 4.8 cm); 4.1" H (10.4 cm) on included custom stand.

Exhibited in "Ancient Glass: Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection" at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, Salem from March 10 to May 19, 2007 and "Glass of the Ancient World" at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida from October 11 to December 28, 2008.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003

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#177400

  • Condition: Fragment of a larger piece. Missing proper right horn, nick to tip of right ear, and small chip to mouth. Nice weathering film to interior and light earthen deposits to exterior.

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September 8, 2023 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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