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
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
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) and Custodian(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. Berkeley. .
  • 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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