Stele with bull’s head

Historical period(s)
500 B.C.-500 CE
Medium
Calcite travertine
Dimensions
H x W x D: 40.6 x 22.5 x 14.7 cm (16 x 8 7/8 x 5 13/16 in)
Geography
Yemen
Credit Line
Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
S1986.506
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Stone
Type

Stele

Keywords
bull, WWII-era provenance, Yemen
Provenance

To 1966
Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981). [1]

From 1966 to 1986
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. [2]

From 1986
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, transferred from Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC [3]

Notes:

[1] See document from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, object file, Collections Management Office. For further discussion, see also Curatorial Remark 4 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

[3] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s)

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Joseph H. Hirshhorn

Published References
  • Yemen: 3,000 Years of Art and Civilization in Arabia Felix. Exh. cat. Munich. .
  • Diana Wong. South Arabian Bovine Stelae: On the Function and Significance of Theomorphic Statues from Qataban. Universtiy of California, Berkeley, CA. .
  • Ray L. Cleveland. An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis: Objects from the Second Campaign (1951) in the Timna' Cemetery. Publications of the American Foundation for the Study of Man, vol. 4 Baltimore. .
  • The Encyclopedia of World Art. 17 vols., New York, 1959-1968. col. 555.
Collection Area(s)
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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