LOT 0306

Migration Period Bronze Animal Mounts

NORTHERN GREECE, 7TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.

9 5/8 x 10 7/8 in. (2.66 kg total, 24.5 x 27.8 cm including stand).

Comprising seven Migration period mounts and one of a later date: a mould with scrolling palmettes within a roped border, possibly used as a model or die for producing repoussé mounts; a mould of a winged figure with human body and lion-like head, with short mane, wide circular eyes, and a gaping mouth, standing with legs akimbo and arms upraised, wearing a kilt with two registers of incised linear decoration, the bare torso with circular nipples, a pair of wings extending from beneath the arms, the feathers demarcated with incised stripes and dots; a mould of a dog crouching in right profile, with fore- and hind-legs bent forward beneath his body, a collar of teardrop-shaped curls across his breast and shoulders, and a short curling tail, the large schematised head, with wide flaring muzzle revealing two rows of sharp teeth and a pointed tongue, decorated with a sweeping pattern of dots and lines; a disc cast with face mask and four arms; a mould of a lion with a human-head in right profile, his long legs tucked forward beneath his body, each with large incised claws, the body and legs decorated with stamped dots, while the head, which is turned frontally, framed by a broad striated mane and long pointed beard, the face with wide circular eyes and open mouth; a belt mount in the form of a pair of addorsed animals with snake ends, with a lozenge in the centre and attachment loops; a mould with scrolling palmettes within a roped border; a mount in the form of a winged lion facing left, its paw upraised, attachment hole at top of wing, of a later date; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

UK collection, acquired 1970s-1990s.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13445-263434.

Similar human-headed lions appear on an Avar strap end excavated at a cemetery at Kecel; cf. G. Laszlo, The Art of the Migration Period, London and Miami, 1971, nos. 128-131; see also a mount of similar date from the Velestinon Hoard; cf. D. Kidd, 'The Velestinon (Thessaly) Hoard - A Footnote,' in F. Daim (ed.), Awarenforschungen, Vienna, 1992, p. 513, fig. 2a; Curta, F., Szmoniewski, B.S., The Velestino Hoard, casting light on the Byzantine Dark Ages, Palgrave, 2019, pp.39ff.

A mounted group of eight Northern Greek attachments, seven from the Migration period, 7th to 9th century AD, and one probably from a later date. The group of seven was found in Thessalonika around 1911/12. The original group is called the Velestino hoard. The group now owned by a UK private collector (about 60 in total) was owned by the family whose land straddled the Northern Macedonia/ Greece area. They were probably shield mounts, belt mounts or horse harness mounts used by the Eastern Roman army, copying or imitating iconography of the early Slavs who invaded the Balkans in the 7th century A.D.