Bohemian Majolica Gerbing & Stephan In The Likeness Of Assyrian Sculptures From Khorsabad, 19th

Sensational centerpiece in slip, called MAJOLICA, from the end of the 19th century, from the Bohemian factory of GERBING & STEPHAN, representing the Assyrian sculptures of the palace of Khorsabad, near Mosul, built in the 8th century BCE , in what is now Iraq. Indeed, our object takes up the striking iconography of the winged bulls called Lamassu or Shêdu, known to be the guardians of the gates of the palace of Sargon II. Protective geniuses, they are wearing tall truncated tiaras, decorated with feathers and horns. The latter testify to their divine status, as apotropaic figures. The doors of the Khorsabad Palace are today visible at the Louvre Museum in Paris but also at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. These remains discovered in 1843 by several European archaeologists including Paul-Emile Botta mark the birth of Near Eastern archeology. Our earthenware Lamassu therefore fits into this context of exhilarating discoveries. So, like the bronzes produced for the grand tour in the 19th century, we can think that the latter serves as a souvenir object. Its marked polychromy reminds us that these palatial remains, the last witnesses of an ambitious imperial capital, were also particularly colorful.

https://www.louvre.fr/decouvre/le-palais/dans-le-palais-de-sargon-ii
https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/khorsabad/fr/taureaux-ailes

Conditions: Sculpture of 'edition in very good condition, Manufacture de Bohême, bearing the hollow stamp mark "G&ST", for GERBING & STEPHAN, model ''1851''.
https://etruscanmajolica.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-majolica-of-gerbing-stephan.html

Dimensions: Height: 29.5 cm Width: 27 cm Depth: 10 cm