Antiquity · Cleveland Museum of Art · 1970.61
Bull Calf Polemount
Unknown maker, c. 2700 BCE
Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · Public domain
- Artist
- Unknown maker
- Date
- c. 2700 BCE
- Medium
- basalt
- Dimensions
- Overall: 7.7 x 5.1 x 13.1 cm (3 1/16 x 2 x 5 3/16 in.)
- Era
- Antiquity
Why it matters
Like most Mesopotamian sculptures in the round, this small bull was an object of worship in a temple. Its eyes, the triangle on the forehead, and the stripes in the rope were originally embellished with contrasting colored stones, or bone. The inlays are lost, but the sculpture itself is one of the very few original cult statues that have survived.