Brooch with Assyrian winged human-headed bull

Following the excavation of Assyrian palaces in the mid-nineteenth century, ancient Mesopotamian imagery began to be used in European decorative arts, including jewelry and ceramics. Publicity in the form of news coverage and popular books around the excavations, removal of many sculptures from sites in northern Iraq to England and France, and public spectacles such as the reconstructed ‘Nineveh Court’ in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, London, fostered a fascination with Assyria and Assyrian art among the Victorian public.

This brooch is part of a demi-parure with earrings (2023.680a, b), all three pieces featuring one of the winged bull gateway guardian figures that would become the modern icons of the ancient Assyrian palaces. The back of the brooch features a glass compartment for storing a picture or other keepsake.