Ancient Roman Silver Bull Statuette

£ 250.00

An Ancient Roman bull statuette cast from silver standing on all four legs. The animal is finely modelled with the anatomical features naturalistically rendered including the protruding ears, pointed horns and the large hump on its back. Slight indentations have been applied to represent the eyes and a circular incision to indicate the nose.

Date: Circa 1st-2nd century AD
Provenance: ‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.
Condition: Very fine condition. Minor encrustation to the surface.

SOLD

SKU: LD-618 Category: Tags: ,

Bronze or silver statuettes were popular across the Roman Empire, usually modelled in the shape of gods, goddesses and animals. Such statuettes could have been part of private households or placed in temples as votive offerings. Interestingly, during the Roman Empire, the Asia Minor region was famous for its cast metal sculptures.

Bulls were a common depiction in Roman art. They were, like other Classical cultures, a symbol of power and fertility. They were also amongst the animals most frequently slaughtered as a sacrificial victim. This practise was associated from the 2nd century AD to the great Mother goddess, to protect the people and the State. Within mythology, the bull was also heavily associated with the mystic cult of Mithras. The imagery of a bull being slaughtered by Mithras, known as a ‘tauroctony’, was synonymous with the cult’s identity.

For more information about the meanings of animals in Roman art, see our relevant blog post: Animal Symbolism in Roman Art.

Weight 13.1 g
Dimensions L 2.4 x H 1.8 cm
Culture

Metal

Region

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