A Seated Figure of the God Thoth as an Ibis
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A Seated Figure of the God Thoth as an Ibis

Description

Great attention has been paid to the accurate and skillful rendering of the anatomic details of the ibis. Incised decoration replicates the structure of the bill, the eyes and the feathers and skin of the legs. The long, curved beak is harmoniously in proportion to the body, which has been simplified and streamlined to the point where it is an exercise in pure form. The bone structure of the beak and the head are represented through carefully nuanced modeling. The graceful contours of the neck flow into the body, of which only the outlines of wings, modeled on the underside as a slight ridge, are visible. The stylized mass of tail feathers was made separately and then inserted into the body.

Our bronze ibis would probably have been dedicated at a temple to Thoth, Egyptian god of writing, magic and wisdom, whose sacred animal was the ibis, and who often appeared as a man with the head of an ibis. As the creator of mankind, Thoth was one of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon. His main sanctuary was located in Hermopolis, a city that was known for its wealth.

Hermopolis benefited greatly from the rule of the Ptolemies, the Greek kings of Egypt, who commissioned large building projects for the city, thus solidifying Hermopolis’s identity as a luxurious resort town. A bronze such as our ibis would have undoubtedly been commissioned by a wealthy patron or king, who had access to the best workshops and quantities of good bronze. Our ibis is larger than the average ibis votives found: one of the closest parallels in terms of size and style is a Ptolemaic bronze ibis in the Brooklyn Museum (no. 49, 48).

Bibliography

ARNOLD, D., An Egyptian Bestiary, in Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New York, 1995.

ROBINS, G., The Art of Ancient Egypt, New Haven, 1998.

For other Late Period and Ptolemaic bronze ibis statuettes, see:

British Musem BM n. 64095 (1939, 0211.1)

Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 1940.667. 1/14

REFERENCE #

SI_EG_1046

CIVILIZATION

Egyptian, Late Dynastic Period. 26th Dynasty, 664 B.C.E. – 332 B.C.E.

SIZE

L. 40 cm

CONDITION

Fine condition

PRICE

Sold

PROVENANCE

Ex. Private American collection, gifted to him in 1964 by a doctor who acquired it while working in Sudan.

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Bronze Etruscan Harpago
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Bronze Etruscan Harpago

Original price was: $20,000.00.Current price is: $17,000.00.
Civilization: Greek
Material: Metal
Description

A bronze Etruscan harpago, or underwater sponge collecting hook, with seven curved tines set radially around a central torus. The hook piece is set upon a large handle with a coiled design along its shaft. An additional pair of tines protrudes just below the torus at the top of the coiled shaft.

Reference: Cf. MFA Bronzes, p. 421, fig. 608. Published: HASB 1, 1975, 21ff

REFERENCE #

MW_GR_1006

CIVILIZATION

Etruscan, 600 B.C.E.

SIZE

H. 33 cm

CONDITION

Fine Condition, some of the tips are reattached.

PRICE

$17,000

PROVENANCE

Private Collection P.C. Nuremberg

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Bronze Figurine of Horus as a Falcon
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Bronze Figurine of Horus as a Falcon

Original price was: $49,000.00.Current price is: $45,000.00.
Civilization: Egyptian
Material: Metal
Description

Solid cast, the bird is shown in a typical pose, wings crossed over the tail with the feathers all cleanly incised. It wears the double crown of Egypt and traces of gilding remains scattered over the surface. This probably once decorated the top of a sarcophagus.

The so-called Horus falcon is one whose characteristics do not conform exactly with any of the four species known to the Egyptians: it is an idealized falcon with elements inspired by more than one of the predatory birds. The falcon was revered from earliest times for its awesome climb into the heavens and its headlong yet sure swoop upon its prey. The earliest element of the royal titulary, which officially proclaimed the ruler’s name, was the Horus name by which the holder of the royal office and the royal bird were indissolubly linked. Horus was essentially protective of the king and so an image of a falcon held an inherent concept of protection. But in one creation legend, the creator god was held to be a falcon whose outspread wings formed the vault of heaven, his two eyes being the sun and moon. Thus the image of the falcon was also strongly associated with creation and regeneration.

Not surprisingly it was a form adopted by a number of Egyptian gods. Even the name Horus refers to more than one deity since Horus of Edfu, Horus the son of Isis and Osiris and Horus the Elder are three completely separate gods with only the name in common; all could manifest themselves as a falcon. In addition, the sun god Re, Monthu the Theban war god, Sokar the Memphite funerary god, Khonsu of Thebes, even one of the Sons of Horus called Qebhsenuef could appear as falcons or falcon-headed (and there are others), with only special attributes to help distinguish each from the other and the multiplicity of Horuses. If none of these distinctive features is present and there is no inscription, identification of a falcon as being the manifestation of a specific deity is frequently impossible.

REFERENCE #

SI_EG_1047

CIVILIZATION

Egyptian, 26th/30th Dynasty, 664 B.C.E. – 342 B.C.E.

 

SIZE

H. 14.4 cm

CONDITION

Excellent condition

PRICE

$45,000

PROVENANCE

Former French private collection, acquired ca. 1970. French Passport # 128908

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Bronze Imperial Roman Bull Stomping Hoof
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Bronze Imperial Roman Bull Stomping Hoof

Civilization: Roman
Material: Metal

Description

This incredible Bronze Imperial Roman Bull statuette dating from 200 – 300 C.E. is decorated with two stylized markings on its flanks and one large ribbon across its torso.  The bull’s powerful stance is accentuated by his head that is turned, as well as his front left leg that is raised in an aggressive stomping motion.  Additional decorations are present on the bull’s head in the form of decorous curls.  This Bronze Imperial Roman Bull statuette was part of a composed relief depicting a procession that leads to the sacrifice of the bull which was performed for the welfare of the Roman empire.

For more than 5,000 years, bronze and other copper alloys have been essential materials used to create everything from life-size sculptures to objects of daily life such as weapons, jewelry, tableware, and as featured here:  This incredible Bronze Imperial Roman Bull statuette.  Similar pieces are found in museums such as the Met Museum in New York City, but few found are as majestic and powerful as this piece.

Roman Bull in Cult of Magna Mater (Great Mother of the gods) Cybele

The religious practices of the Roman Empire of the 2nd to 4th centuries C.E. included the taurobolium, in which a bull was sacrificed for the well being of the people and the state. Around the mid-2nd century C.E. the practice became identified with the worship of Magna Mater (i.e. the Great Mother of the gods, Cybele), but was not previously associated only with that cult (cultus).

After 159 CE all private taurobolia inscriptions mention Magna Mater.  Public taurobolia enlisting the benevolence of Magna Mater on behalf of the emperor became common in Italy, Gaul, Hispania, and Africa. The last public taurobolium for which there is an inscription was carried out at Mactar in Numidia at the close of the 3rd century C.E. It was performed in honor of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian.

 

Roman Bull in Eastern Cult of Mithras

Another Roman mystery cult in which a sacrificial bull played a role was that of the 1st-4th century C.E. Mithraic Mysteries.  The cult of Mithras was very popular throughout the Roman Empire and was followed especially by soldiers.  It was one of several eastern cults that spread rapidly as a result of the Pax Romana (Roman peace) – others included the worship of Jupiter Dolichenus, Manichaeism, and of course Christianity.

Shrouded in secrecy, ancient mystery cults fascinate and capture the imagination.  Like all Greco-Roman mysteries, the cult of Mithraic Mysteries was limited to initiates, and there is very little known about the cult’s beliefs or practices.  In the so-called “tauroctony” artwork of that cult (cultus) – and which appears in all its temples – the god Mithras is seen to slay a sacrificial bull. The tauroctony should not be confused with a “taurobolium”, which was an actual bull-killing cult act performed by initiates of the Mysteries of Magna Mater, and has nothing to do with the Mithraic Mysteries.

Although there has been a great deal of speculation on the subject, the mystery that the tauroctony scene was intended to represent remains unknown.  Like the other ancient “mystery religions” such as the Eleusinian mysteries and the mysteries of Isis, Mithraism maintained strict secrecy about its teachings and practices, revealing them only to initiates. As a result, reconstructing the beliefs of the Mithraic devotees has posed an enormously intriguing challenge to scholarly ingenuity.

Owing to the Mithraic cult’s secrecy, we possess almost no literary evidence about the beliefs of Mithraism. The few texts that do refer to the cult come not from Mithraic devotees themselves, but rather from outsiders such as early Church fathers who mentioned Mithraism in order to attack it, as well as from Platonic philosophers who attempted to find support in Mithraic symbolism for their own philosophical ideas.

However, although our literary sources for Mithraism are extremely sparse, an abundance of material evidence for the cult exists in the many Mithraic temples and artifacts that archaeologists have found scattered throughout the Roman empire – from England in the north and west to Palestine in the south and east.  The temples – called mithraea by scholars – were usually built underground in imitation of caves.  These subterranean temples were filled with an extremely elaborate iconography: carved reliefs, statues, and paintings – depicting a variety of enigmatic figures and scenes. This iconography is our primary source of knowledge about Mithraic beliefs, but because we do not have any written accounts of its meaning the ideas that it expresses have proven extraordinarily difficult to decipher.

 

Sources:

1.) Met Museum – Bronze Statuette of Bull

2.) Met Museum – Bronze Plaque of Mithras slaying the bull

3.) Met Museum – Mystery Cults in the Greek and Roman World

4.) Harvard Art Museums – Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

5.) Wikipedia – Sacred Bull Roman Empire

6.) Wikipedia – Taurobolium

7.) Wikipedia – Magna Mater, Cybele

8.) Wikipedia – Tauroctony

9.) Wikipedia – Pax Romana

10.) Ulansey, D., “The Origin of Mithraic Mysteries”, 1991; and
  Ulansey, D., “Solving the Mithraic Mysteries” within:  Biblical Archaeology Review, vol. 20, #5 (September/October 1994) pp. 40-53

11.) The Tertullian Project – The Roman Cult of Mithras

 

REFERENCE #

SI_RM_1085

CIVILIZATION

Roman, 200 C.E. – 300 C.E.

SIZE

H. 16 cm

CONDITION

Fine condition

PRICE

Price available upon request

PROVENANCE

The Baidun Collection, Ex German Private Collection, acquired in the 1980’s

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