Hellenistic Sceptre with Bull Heads. 1st century B.C.-3rd century A.D. A substantial Hellenistic or Sassanian sceptre comprising a square-section iron rod with modelled bronze finials, the top finial formed as three stylised bull heads with swept-back horns forming a small crescent behind the ears, swirls of hair beneath the horns and above the head; the bottom finial formed as a clenched right hand pierced through the knuckles. See Hackin, J., Recherches Archéologiques à Bagram, Mémoire de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan 9, Paris, 1939; see Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, objects nn.419-420, for close parallels; also comparable with a mace head in the British Museum at inv.no.129396, and a mace head with ram heads in the Ashmolean Museum; see Kubik, A. and Nadeem, A., ‘Bronze Mace with three rams’ heads from Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford’ in Historia i ?wiat, issue 4, 2015, pp.157-174. 1.25 kg, 60 cm (23 1/2 in.) With a London gallery. Acquired in the 1990s. Property of a London collector; from her family's private collection. Accompanied by an archaeological expertise by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate no.10307-168918. The bulls' heads combine both Hellenic naturalism and Iranian stylisation. This type of sceptre or military mace was used as a symbol of command. They were the products of Hellenistic and Persian workshops which existed from Mediterranean Syria (already part of the Roman Empire) to the Indo-Kushan Kingdom (see Met accession number 1986.502.4). They all share the basic form of an iron rod with cast-on elements at the top and base. The tops exhibit a variety of shapes, usually a male or female head, either single or, as in our specimen, triple headed bulls or a ram. The base usually shows a knob, a spool grip and even a hand grasping a sphere. Many examples are kept in private collections, but there are a few with known provenance, one from Begram (Hackin, 1939, fig.352) and one in Bastan Museum from Dinkha Tepe in the Ushnu Valley of North-Western Iran. Although Hellenistic by conception, these sceptres were widely used by Persian leaders, especially the ones surmounted by bulls (Met accession number 1977.48) or a ram. Military scholars attribute these sceptres predominantly to the Sassanian period, and one can imagine army commanders and kings holding such maces when rallying and leading their armies.

Very fine condition.