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Votive statuette of an apis bull
664 BCE-332 BCE
Medium
bronze, gold, electrum
Measurements
13.5 × 3.7 × 11.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Miss Ola Cohn, 1950
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This cast bronze figure of a bull represents the sacred Apis bull, through which the will of Ptah, creator god of the ancient Egyptial capital of Memphis, was believed to be realised. From the Late Period onwards the worship of sacred animals became extremely popular. The Apis bull was identified by several special traits: its shoulders and flanks were marked with winged scarabs, it had a triangle on its forehead and a scarab on the underside of its tongue, and the hairs in its tail were double, ie. it had two hairs to each follicle. The sacred bull lived in a stall within the Temple of Ptah but was paraded during festivals and made oracular decisions on behalf of the god Ptah.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Egypt
Accession Number
1007-D4
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Small, votive figure of an apis bull shown walking on a hollow, rectangular base. The bull stands with its left fore and hind legs forward and the tail is attached to the right hind leg. It wears a solar disc and uraeus and a decorated cloth over its back. A winged hawk is incised over the shoulders and a winged vulture over the flanks; both the birds wear solar discs. The cloth on the back is incised with a 4-petal interlocking motif with a central panel enclosing a scarab. On the bull's forehead is an inverted triangle of silver or electrum and the eyes are inlaid with gold and a black metal. There are incised lines at the base of the horns and the platform is inscribed in hieroglyphs around the front and one long side. The statuette was dedicated by one Petese.
All the details are roughly incised.
The bull is slightly damaged on the right flank and shoulder and the right side of the base is worn with parts missing.