Bull head-shaped spout of vessel
Unknown Artist
4th–3rd millennium BCE (?)
Medium
Stone
Dimensions
2.25 x 2.5 in. (5.72 x 6.35 cm)
Classification
Stone-Vessels
Department
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Walter Hauser, 1955
Accession Number
55.65.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite bull head-shaped spout, from stone in the 4th–3rd millennium BCE, hails from the ancient Near East—a cradle of early civilization where masterful stonework adorned everyday and ritual vessels. Measuring just 2.25 x 2.5 inches this diminutive artifact, now in the Metropolitan Museum of's Ancient Near Eastern Art (gift of Walter Hauser 1955), likely served as functional pourer for a larger vessel, blending utility with symbolic power. Bulls held profound cultural importance in these prehistoric societies, embodying strength, fertility, and divine authority—motifs echoed in later ...