Artwork Page for Griffin Protome

Details / Information for Griffin Protome

Griffin Protome

625–575 BCE

Greece, Ionian

Medium
bronze
Measurements
Overall: 13.9 cm (5 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
The Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund 1927.146
Public Domain
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Location
102B Greek
Print
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Did You Know?

Fossilized Protoceratops dinosaur bones may lie behind the eagle/lion form of the mythical griffin.

Description

This bird-like head and neck, with sharp beak and tongue, belongs to a griffin, a fantastic bird/lion hybrid prominently found in both Greek and Near Eastern artwork. Often, as here, the griffin has large upright ears (probably feline, in keeping with its lion body) as well as a knob-like projection atop its head. The scaly neck terminates in a flange once pierced with holes for connection to the shoulder of a large bronze cauldron, which would have been ornamented with three or more such griffins.

Griffin Protome

625–575 BCE

Greece, Ionian

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