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Repoussé plaque with a winged goddess holding lions
Greek, East Greek
Orientalizing Period
660–620 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Electrum
Dimensions
5.4 x 3 cm (2 1/8 x 1 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.383
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment
DescriptionA winged goddess stands at the center of this plaque grasping a lion in each of her raised fists. Her upwards curving wings are patterned. Small dots act as filling ornaments between the woman’s wings and head. Each of the suspended lions turns its head backwards, straining to be released from the goddess’s grasp. Beneath the head of each lion is a stylized rosette. The entire plaque is bordered by a double braid pattern, which is further accentuated by a series of darts along the lower border. A tab, which may have once been used to pin the piece to an item of clothing, emerges from the top of the plaque. Parts of the right side and tab of the object are now missing.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: W. H. Forman Collection; inherited from him by Mrs. Burt and then, about 1889, by A. H. Browne; by 1899: with Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 13 Wellington Strand, London, W.C. (sale of the Forman collection, June 19-22, lot 397, partial; said to have come from Kameiros); 1899: with Edward Perry Warren; 1899: purchased by MFA from Edward Pery Warren for $ 32,500.00 (this is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542)