Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Islamic Middle East, Room 42, The Jameel Gallery

Figure

ca. 1200 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Fritware, possibly moulded in two halves, with a transparent glaze (now degraded)
Brief description
Fritware figurine of a bull with his tail curled through his hind legs, Syria (possibly Raqqa), about 1200.
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.
Dimensions
  • Height: 22.2cm
  • Width: 23.6cm
  • Depth: 14cm
Styles
Gallery label
  • Jameel Gallery Ox Figurine Syria, perhaps Raqqah About 1200 Figurines depicting animals and, more rarely, humans usually had some practical use, as does the small vase to the left. This ox, with a pronounced dewlap and tail curled between its hind legs, is remarkably realistic, but its function has not been established. Moulded fritware under an opaque white glaze Museum no. C.36-1980(2006)
  • FIGURE OF A BULL, glazed white earthenware. SYRIAN; about 1200(Old label)
Subject depicted
Summary
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.
Bibliographic reference
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.
Collection
Accession number
C.36-1980

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Record createdFebruary 11, 1998
Record URL
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