ca. 5th]3rd century B.C.
Gilded silver
H. 12.5 cm, W. 15.3 cm, Depth 12.0 cm
This vessel has a lion's head-shaped end which is fitted to a round-bottomed vessel, and is a type of cup that had been created in West Asia since antiquity. The standing ridge, collar-like mane which runs from beneath the ears around the jaw line also traces its origins far back into West Asian history. The eyes are fitted from the inside with crystal insets. The wide open mouth was generally shown in West Asia by a simple curved line, but here we can see the wavy lips shown in a realistic form not found in West Asia. This form is found in architectural and jewelry design from the Greek cultural sphere which spread from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea region. Persian art depictions of lion manes were normally scale-like and formalized and the ears were shown held flat against the head. Instead, here we see the elegantly raised mane hairs, and the raised, opened ears. These elements reveal a sense for realism that would have originated in the Mediterranean region. A lion head decoration that would have been attached to the bracelets, excavated from the Pantikapaion on the Crimean Peninsula and today in the Hermitage collection, may show the model for the present lion head's expression.
Similar lion expressions can be found on an ivory sword sheath excavated at Takht-I Sangin. This sword sheath was thought to have been brought to the region from Persia along with Alexander the Great's eastern conquest, but in fact this sheath can be thought to be one of ivory works made in Central Asia, in the style with strong influence of Greeks. These images of lions can be called a Central Asian style that nimbly blends the aesthetics of East and West.
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