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Shears

Roman Period
perhaps 2nd century CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 137
This piece is remarkable for its rich inlays. Both sides of each blade are decorated with three registers of figures. Whoever created the design clearly had a sense of humor; when the shears are closed, the top register brings a cat face-to-face with a dog on one side and a lion on the other.

The combination of atypical iconography (the dogs and lions or the plants at the base of the blades) and rather loose interpretations of Egyptian elements and figural style marks the shears as being in an "Egyptianizing" rather than an actual Egyptian style. Perhaps they served a ritual function at an Isis sanctuary at ancient Trebizond on the Black Sea, the site where they are said to have been found.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shears
  • Period: Roman Period
  • Date: perhaps 2nd century CE
  • Geography: From Turkey, Anatolia; Possibly from Trabzon
  • Medium: Bronze or copper alloy, silver, black copper (?)
  • Dimensions: Height: 9 5/16 in. (23.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1939
  • Object Number: 39.2.2
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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