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Lot Essay
For a combat between a standing and a kneeling figure, both with their eyes similarly inlaid, see the group surmounting a rein ring from Luristan, circa 2500 B.C., now in the Louvre, no. 346 in Amiet, Art of the Ancient Near East. For similar facial features and inlaid eyes see the Elamite copper figure on a ceremonial pin from west Khozestan, no. 9 in Mahboubian, Art of Ancient Iran, Copper and Bronze.
Combat scenes between a hero and a lion had a long history in the ancient Near East. The subject makes its first appearance on cylinder seals beginning in the late 4th millennium B.C. For a relief contemporary with the present copper group see the upper portion of the granite stele from Warka depicting a hero dispatching a lion, no. 9A in Frankfort, The Art of the Ancient Near East. See also the lower half of a plaque showing a hero aiming his dagger at a lion attacking a bull, no. 51 in Harper, Aruz and Tallon, eds., The Royal City of Susa.
Combat scenes between a hero and a lion had a long history in the ancient Near East. The subject makes its first appearance on cylinder seals beginning in the late 4th millennium B.C. For a relief contemporary with the present copper group see the upper portion of the granite stele from Warka depicting a hero dispatching a lion, no. 9A in Frankfort, The Art of the Ancient Near East. See also the lower half of a plaque showing a hero aiming his dagger at a lion attacking a bull, no. 51 in Harper, Aruz and Tallon, eds., The Royal City of Susa.