A SUMERIAN LIMESTONE BULL CUP

LATE URUK-JAMDAT NASR, CIRCA 3300-2900 B.C.

Details

A SUMERIAN LIMESTONE BULL CUP
LATE URUK-JAMDAT NASR, CIRCA 3300-2900 B.C.
Conical in form on a flat base, carved in raised relief with four bulls in a procession to the right, each with its head turned out, with large oval eyes, a ridged poll and short downturned horns
3 5/8 in. (9.3 cm.) diameter

Provenance

Hans and Marie-Louise Erlenmeyer, Basel, acquired prior to 1967.
The Erlenmeyer Collection (Part I), Sotheby's, London, 9 July 1992, lot 278.
Private Collection, Tokyo, 2005-2013.

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Lot Essay

According to L. Martin (p. 42 in J. Aruz, ed., Art of the First Cities, The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus), "Among material from the end of the Uruk period and the following Early Dynastic period, stone vessels are, after cylinder seals, the most important sources of pictorial information...vessels of this type were frequently found in palaces or religious structures, which suggests that they had a special function in such settings." For a similar example see no. 12, op. cit.

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