SOUTHERN URALS, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

A SCYTHIAN GOLD ZOOMORPHIC HANDLE
SOUTHERN URALS, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.
Formed of sheet, in two halves, hammered over a wooden mold and chased, in the form of a predator, perhaps a wolf, standing four-square, its head down, baring fangs, with clawed feet, the fur rendered as incised spirals, beading fringing the ears, with drop-shaped turquoise inlays on the shoulders and haunches, the interior of the ears also inlaid in turquoise, the bottoms of the feet and mouth once conforming to the curvature of a vessel wall, originally set vertically
2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm.) long

Provenance

Gold & Silver Auction Part II, Ancient to Renaissance, Taisei Gallery, New York, 5 November 1992, lot 167 (part), catalogue cover.

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Lot Essay

For several similar zoomorphic handles, some still joined to the plaque attachments, all found at Kurgan I at Filippovka in the Southern Ural Mountains, see nos. 73ff. in J. Aruz, A. Farkas, A. Alekseev and E. Korolkova, eds., The Golden Deer of Eurasia, Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes. For the incised spirals for the fur see the bear-shaped vessel, no. 23, op. cit.

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