The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 12, 2025

Seal with Two-Horned Bull and Inscription

Seal with Two-Horned Bull and Inscription

c. 2000 BCE
steatite
Overall: 3.2 x 3.2 cm (1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1973.160
Location: 242A Ancient India

Did You Know?

A perforated boss at the back allowed the seal to be suspended and easily pressed.

Description

Small stone seals, probably used to identify merchandise or property, are among the most numerous objects discovered from the mysterious proto-historic sites along the banks of the Indus River system. Like these, most have sensitively rendered animal imagery along with an inscription written in a script that has not yet been deciphered.
  • ?–1973
    (William H. Wolff [1906–1991], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1973–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. Mentioned: no. 193, p. 79 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 286 archive.org
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 31, Mentioned: p. 31, p. 61
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 3 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 106-107
  • A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Seal with Two-Horned Bull and Inscription|url=false|author=|year=c. 2000 BCE|access-date=12 February 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.160