northern central Anatolia / Standard with two long-horned bulls / 2400-2000 B.C.

northern central Anatolia
Standard with two long-horned bulls
2400-2000 B.C.
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Creator Nationality: Asian; Anatolian
Creator Name-CRT: northern central Anatolia
Title: Standard with two long-horned bulls
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: -240
Creation End Date: -200
Creation Date: 2400-2000 B.C.
Creation Place: northern central Anatolia
Object Type: Sculpture
Materials and Techniques: Arsenical copper
Dimensions: H. 6.3 in. (15.9 cm)
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 55.137.5
Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1955
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/
Context:

During the Early Bronze Age in central Anatolia (3000-2000 B.C.), a number of nonliterate, localized cultures having little contact with urban Mesopotamia produced spectacular metal vessels, jewelry, weapons, and musical instruments to be buried with their rulers.

This pair of long-horned bulls probably served as a finial for a religious or ceremonial standard. Cast separately, they are held together by extensions of their front and back legs, bent around the plinth. A pierced tang at the base suggests that the pair was connected to another object. The bulls' elaborate, curving horns are half again as long as their bodies, and though impossible in nature, constitute an effective stylistic convention. The tendency to emphasize important features in the representation of animals is a common motif in ancient Near Eastern art.

AMICA ID: MMA_.55.137.5
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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