WESTERN ASIATIC SCYTHIAN GOLD BULL DRESS ORNAMENT 6th-4th century BC A flat round gold plaque with a bull head in a centre, pelleted border and four pierced lugs for stitching. 2 grams, 39mm (1 1/2"). Fine condition. [No Reserve] Provenance Property of a professional; acquired on the European art market in the 1980s. Literature See Reeder, E. (ed) Scythian Gold: Treasures from Ancient Ukraine, New York, 1999. Footnotes Gold ornaments such as these were sown onto the clothing of both male and female members of the Scythian elite and covered the clothing, including hats, trousers as well as shoes. Ornaments such as these have been excavated from burial mounds such as Tetianyna Mohlya near Ordzhonikidze, Ukraine, which had ornamentation on the headdress, robes and shoes; and examples from the burial of a king were found sewn to his trousers at Solokha Kurgan, Dnepropetrovsk region, Ukraine. The depiction of bulls heads is relatively rare in such ornamentation with the stag or lion being the most common motif. It is possible that the bull is of Greek influence and may represent the god Dionysus in his form of Zagraeus.
WESTERN ASIATIC SCYTHIAN GOLD BULL DRESS ORNAMENT 6th-4th century BC A flat round gold plaque with a bull head in a centre, pelleted border and four pierced lugs for stitching. 2 grams, 39mm (1 1/2"). Fine condition. [No Reserve] Provenance Property of a professional; acquired on the European art market in the 1980s. Literature See Reeder, E. (ed) Scythian Gold: Treasures from Ancient Ukraine, New York, 1999. Footnotes Gold ornaments such as these were sown onto the clothing of both male and female members of the Scythian elite and covered the clothing, including hats, trousers as well as shoes. Ornaments such as these have been excavated from burial mounds such as Tetianyna Mohlya near Ordzhonikidze, Ukraine, which had ornamentation on the headdress, robes and shoes; and examples from the burial of a king were found sewn to his trousers at Solokha Kurgan, Dnepropetrovsk region, Ukraine. The depiction of bulls heads is relatively rare in such ornamentation with the stag or lion being the most common motif. It is possible that the bull is of Greek influence and may represent the god Dionysus in his form of Zagraeus.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
