Lion Bracelet

ca. 800 BCE-600 BCE

By dint of its monumentality, iconography and style, this masterpiece of jewellery encapsulates the artistic synthesis that began in north-west Iran during the 8th century BCE, when craftsmen at the service of local rulers drew upon influences ranging from the Assyrian empire in the west to the kingdom of Urartu and the Scythian tribes in the north.

Discovered by chance by villagers in 1947, the bracelet is from an isolated tomb located above the village of Ziwiyé in the hills of Kurdistan. A wealthy person had been buried there at the very beginning of the 7th century BCE in a bronze sarcophagus, together with articles of finery in silver and gold, precious vessels and ceremonial articles.

Artwork Details