Originally listed at $1,500...

Ancient Near East, Holyland, Iron Age II, ca. 1200 to 800 BCE. A fantastic pottery rhyton in the form of a bull standing upon 4 tubular legs with flared feet. The ancient animal faces forward presenting petaloid ears beside liberal remains of horns and a pair of applied and impressed eyes above a cylindrical snout that broadens toward the end, doubling as the spout of the vessel. A wavy, raised band extends downward below the snout, possibly intended as the strap of a halter. The creature's thick flank is adorned with lightly incised rings, which also embellish the feet, as a sinuous tail falls beside a sizeable opening at the posterior which would have served as the fill hole and been plugged with a stopper. Size: 7.6" L x 4" W x 10.1" H (19.3 cm x 10.2 cm x 25.7 cm)

Cf. Asian Art Museum, object number B66P35 and Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 43.89.2.

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full printed and bound report is available to the buyer upon request.

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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.

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#172974

Professionally repaired with restoration over break lines. Losses to horns, proper left ear, handle, and front feet. Expected chips, nicks, and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, very nice with rich earthen deposits, especially to interior. TL holes to interior of back left foot and behind left ear.