Hellenistic Sceptre with Bull Heads

1st century BC-3rd century AD. A substantial Hellenistic or possibly Sassanian sceptre comprising a square-section iron rod with modelled bronze finials, the top finial formed as three stylised bull heads with swept-back horns forming a small crescent behind the ears, swirls of hair beneath the horns and above the head; the bottom finial formed as a clenched right hand pierced through the knuckles. See Hackin, J., Recherches Archéologiques à Bagram, Mémoire de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan 9, Paris, 1939; see Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, objects nn.419-420, for close parallels; also comparable with a mace head in the British Museum at inv.no.129396, and a mace head with ram heads in the Ashmolean Museum; see Kubik, A. and Nadeem, A., ‘Bronze Mace with three rams’ heads from Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford’ in Historia i ?wiat, issue 4, 2015, pp.157-174. 1.25 kg, 60cm (23 1/2''"). Property of a London collector; from her family's private collection; formerly with a London gallery; acquired in the 1990s; accompanied by an archaeological expertise by Dr Raffaele D’Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10307-168918. The bulls' heads combine both Hellenic naturalism and Iranian stylisation. This type of sceptre or military mace was used as a symbol of command. They were the products of Hellenistic and Persian workshops which existed from Mediterranean Syria (already part of the Roman Empire) to the Indo-Kushan Kingdom (see Met accession number 1986.502.4"). They all share the basic form of an iron rod with cast-on elements at the top and base. The tops exhibit a variety of shapes, usually a male or female head, either single or, as in our specimen, single or triple headed bulls or a ram. The base usually shows a knob, a spool grip and even a hand grasping a sphere. Many examples are kept in private collections, but there are a few with known provenance, one from Begram (Hackin, 1939, fig.352) and one in Bastan Museum from Dinkha Tepe in the Ushnu Valley of North-Western Iran. Although Hellenistic by conception, these sceptres were widely used by Persian leaders, especially the ones surmounted by bulls (Met accession number 1977.48) or a ram. Military scholars attribute these sceptres predominantly to the Sassanian period, and one can imagine army commanders and kings holding such maces when rallying and leading their armies.
Condition Report: Very fine condition.