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Figure

Figure

  • Place of origin:

    Raqqah, Syria (possibly, made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1200 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Fritware, possibly moulded in two halves, with a transparent glaze (now degraded)

  • Museum number:

    C.36-1980

  • Gallery location:

    Islamic Middle East, room 42, case WE7, shelf 3

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This unique ceramic sculpture depicts a horned bull with a pronounced dewlap, standing on a rectangular base, with his tail curled round between his hind legs. A ring of mounds runs round the edge of the base, suggesting the boundary of a pen. There is no discernible opening, which raises the question of this object’s function. The many other Islamic figurines were probably used for pouring water, but this piece seems to be a unique survival of a small free-standing sculpture.

Physical description

Figure of a bull standing on a rectangular base with the tail curled through his hind legs. With a thoracic hump and a pronounced dewlap. Fritware, possibly moulded in two halves (there is a crack down the middle of the spine) before attachment to the base; transparent glaze, now almost entirely turned through burial an opaque silvery-mushroom colour.

Place of Origin

Raqqah, Syria (possibly, made)

Date

ca. 1200 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Fritware, possibly moulded in two halves, with a transparent glaze (now degraded)

Dimensions

Height: 22.2 cm, Width: 23.6 cm, Depth: 14 cm

Descriptive line

Fritware figurine of a bull with his tail curled through his hind legs, Syria (possibly Raqqa), about 1200.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Tim Stanley ed., with Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stephen Vernoit, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, V&A Publications, 2004, pp. 49-50, pl. 64.

Labels and date

FIGURE OF A BULL, glazed white earthenware.
SYRIAN; about 1200 [Old label]

Materials

Fritware; Ceramic

Techniques

Moulded

Subjects depicted

Bull

Categories

Ceramics

Collection code

MES

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Qr_O7413
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