Canosan Limestone Entablature w/ Bull Reliefs
Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosa, early Hellenistic Period, ca. 4th century BCE. A stunning hand-carved limestone entablature featuring 2 frontally facing bull or ox heads known as bucrania flanking a column of the Doric style. Each bucrania is naturalistically rendered with a lengthy snout, flared nostrils, bulging, annular eyes, and perky, petaloid ears, all capped by a pair of curved horns. The top of this lovely decorative program is adorned with a motif of 3 horizontal tiers below a pattern of rectangular designs. Bucrania were favored forms of decoration in the Classical world, the symbolic motif commemorating the religious practice of sacrificing bulls appearing on monuments as well as pottery and furniture. Note the liberal remains of rosy-pink, sienna red, yellow ochre, and charcoal grey pigment decorating this elegant example for ancient Italy! Size: 18.75" L x 4" W x 13" H (47.6 cm x 10.2 cm x 33 cm); 16.5" H (41.9 cm) on included custom stand.
An entablature like this example would have been erected as a monument, oftentimes used in a funerary or commemorative context. Stone stelae were also used as boundary markers, government notices to announce laws and decrees, or to record a ruler's honors and accomplishments. The bucranium motif originated in a ceremony during which an ox's head was hung from the beams supporting a temple roof. The custom of sacrificing garlanded oxen has a very long history - extending back to the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in Anatolia. During Bronze Age Crete, bucrania served as an element of the bull and double-ax cult, wherein the bull's head was adorned with a garland of bay leaves. This practice of adorning architecture and monuments with bucrania extended to the later Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical periods. One can find extant examples on a frieze in the temple complex of Samothrace, Greece, a frieze of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus in Rome, as well as at the 17th century Knole Palace in Kent, England. What's more, a first century fresco from Boscoreale that features bucrania and was protected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.
Provenance: ex-Art for Eternity, New York, USA; ex-prominent Daryl G. Kulok collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 2000s
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#165040
Condition Report: Fragment of larger piece. Expected nicks, chips, and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining details and pigments.
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Magna Graecia, Apulia, Canosa, early Hellenistic Period, ca. 4th century BCE. A stunning hand-carved limestone entablature featuring 2 frontally facing bull or ox heads known as bucrania flanking a column of the Doric style. Each bucrania is naturalistically rendered with a lengthy snout, flared nostrils, bulging, annular eyes, and perky, petaloid ears, all capped by a pair of curved horns. The top of this lovely decorative program is adorned with a motif of 3 horizontal tiers below a pattern of rectangular designs. Bucrania were favored forms of decoration in the Classical world, the symbolic motif commemorating the religious practice of sacrificing bulls appearing on monuments as well as pottery and furniture. Note the liberal remains of rosy-pink, sienna red, yellow ochre, and charcoal grey pigment decorating this elegant example for ancient Italy! Size: 18.75" L x 4" W x 13" H (47.6 cm x 10.2 cm x 33 cm); 16.5" H (41.9 cm) on included custom stand.
An entablature like this example would have been erected as a monument, oftentimes used in a funerary or commemorative context. Stone stelae were also used as boundary markers, government notices to announce laws and decrees, or to record a ruler's honors and accomplishments. The bucranium motif originated in a ceremony during which an ox's head was hung from the beams supporting a temple roof. The custom of sacrificing garlanded oxen has a very long history - extending back to the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in Anatolia. During Bronze Age Crete, bucrania served as an element of the bull and double-ax cult, wherein the bull's head was adorned with a garland of bay leaves. This practice of adorning architecture and monuments with bucrania extended to the later Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical periods. One can find extant examples on a frieze in the temple complex of Samothrace, Greece, a frieze of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus in Rome, as well as at the 17th century Knole Palace in Kent, England. What's more, a first century fresco from Boscoreale that features bucrania and was protected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.
Provenance: ex-Art for Eternity, New York, USA; ex-prominent Daryl G. Kulok collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 2000s
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#165040
Condition Report: Fragment of larger piece. Expected nicks, chips, and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining details and pigments.
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Time, Location
Auction House
