Lot Essay
Carved stone panels like this one have often been attributed to 12th century Hamadan in Iran. An example is published in: L'Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, p. 114, no. 204. In contrast to this piece our panel depicts a mythical best, rather than a lion, once addorsed to its counterpart. The animal on our panel is, furthermore, more animate and less static than the lion on the Paris panel. The pearlbands seen on the body of our beast are reminiscent of late Sasanian or early Islamic patterns found on Iranian textiles and metalwork.