Master of the Animals Finial
10th-8th century BCE
Description
This “master of animals” finial depicts a stylized man with an (attacking?) animal on each side. The man has a bulb-shaped cap, open at the center for insertion of a pin, which is extant. The pin appears to have a spheroid top and tapers to a point at the bottom. The man, who is janiform (having the same face on front and back), has open, circular eyes, molded brows, and a prominent triangular nose. His ears are parabolic and prominent. His mouth is indicated by a small depression, and he has a pointed chin in low relief. The rest of the body consists of a cylinder, with a section of raised bands in the middle, perhaps indicating the waist. Above the banded area, at the point where the necks of the animals curve out from the body, is another face, mimicking the face at the top of the finial, but without ears and having more of a heart-shape. The animals are highly stylized and resemble roosters more than lions. At the area where the lower head is, animal necks curve outward, beginning with raised bands, like the possible belt, with rooster heads curving downward below them, and ending in larger lion or rooster heads with long thin ears, raised circular eyes, and open mouths curving at top and bottom showing the curve of the beak or teeth on either side of the upper head. The animal heads all have a crest with three ridges on the top of the head. The smaller, lower heads have flat circular eyes surrounded by another circle and curving beaks. The animals’ bodies disappear beneath the banded area in the middle of the finial, and then their hindquarters curve out again below. They have spindly, stick-like lower legs, bent at angles with thick, rounded knee-joints and paws gripping the cylinder. Each has a long, thin tail ending in a single spiral. The areas between the animals’ legs are open; a long, flat strip is present from the hindquarters to the top of the paws where the cylinder is otherwise absent. The cylinder ends with one raised band at the bottom.
Dimensions
18.7 x 6.2 x 2 cm (7 3/8 x 2 7/16 x 13/16 in.) Diameter tube opening top and bottom: 0.6 cm (1/4 in.)
Provenance
Offered by Mr. Peter Neuman. Originally a part of his mother's collection, Mrs. Elsa Schmid.
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