Earring with head of a bull
Hoops formed of wound wire with animal head terminals are the commonest type of Hellenistic earring. The bull-head earring appears throughout the Mediterranean, probably a positive image because of the physical and sexual prowess attributed to bulls.
Examples like this one with a gold or stone bead incorporated into the collar behind the animal's head date mostly to the second and first centuries B.C.
Examples like this one with a gold or stone bead incorporated into the collar behind the animal's head date mostly to the second and first centuries B.C.
Artwork Details
- Title: Earring with head of a bull
- Period: Ptolemaic Period
- Date: 2nd–1st century B.C.
- Geography: Probably from Egypt
- Medium: gold
- Dimensions: As Worn: H. 3.4 × W. 3.3 cm (1 5/16 × 1 5/16 in.)
- Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
- Object Number: 30.8.399
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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332–246 B.C.
ca. 733–664 BCE
ca. 945–712 BCE
ca. 712–664 B.C.
4th–2nd century B.C.
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