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Head of a roaring lion

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Head of a roaring lion

Period:
Neo-Assyrian
Date:
ca. 9th–8th century B.C.
Geography:
Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Culture:
Assyrian
Medium:
Ivory
Dimensions:
H. 3 3/4 x W. 3 x D. 2 3/4in. (9.5 x 7.6 x 6.9cm)
Classification:
Ivory/Bone
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number:
62.269.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 400

  • Description

    Assyrian-style ivory carving, contrasting with Phoenician- and Syrian-style ivories found at Nimrud, is illustrated by this ferocious lion's head. Assyrian craftsmen also carved subjects that appear on the stone bas-reliefs of the Assyrian palaces on flat ivory panels, including scenes of warfare, processions, and divinities approaching the sacred tree.

  • Provenance

    1962, excavated by Max Mallowan, on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq; ceded in the division of finds to the British School of Archaeology in Iraq; acquired by the Museum in 1962, as a result of its financial contribution to the excavations.

  • References

    Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1970. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries, exh. cat. New York: Dutton, no. 53, pp. 108-109.

    Crawford, Vaughn E., Prudence O. Harper, and Holly Pittman. 1980. Assyrian Reliefs and Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, fig. 27.

  • See also
    Who
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
30004228

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