3 Ancient Bronzes | Roman, Seljuq, & Medieval Bucranium, Horse & Hook

Roman; Central Asia, Seljuq Empire; Europe, Medieval period. A trio of small copper lead alloy animals spanning more than a millennium of metalworkers' invention. The Roman piece is a furniture or vessel attachment cast as a bucranium, the frontal ox skull with curving horns, crowned by a foliate leaf and pierced for mounting. Beside it stands a Seljuq horse, sturdy legged and thick necked, the muzzle tucked down and the tail rendered as a stub, a type long associated with harness ornament and amuletic use. The third, a Medieval hook, resolves into a long necked zoomorph, perhaps a bat or a dragon, its arched body forming the functional curve. All three are miniature in scale, their surfaces carrying earthen green and cuprite red corrosion. Cast solid, each shows the economical modeling of objects made to be used rather than admired. The bucranium, a stylized ox or bull skull, entered Roman decorative vocabulary from Greek and earlier Near Eastern sacrificial imagery, where the skulls of slaughtered cattle were hung on temple walls and later petrified into architectural ornament on friezes and altars. In miniature bronze form it migrates onto furniture fittings, vessel attachments, and box mounts, keeping its apotropaic charge while serving as a handsome anchor for a handle or strap. Seljuq metalworkers of the 11th to 13th centuries produced quantities of small cast animals, horses above all, reflecting the Turkic steppe inheritance of a dynasty whose power rested on cavalry. Such figures functioned variously as harness pendants, weights, finials, and talismans. Please note that items in this lot contain 14 to 39% lead. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 204922

Estimate:$225

View all items fromArtemis Fine ArtsorSculptures