Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

72
These five gold plaques come from the
second tomb at Solokha, the burial of a
man. They were found near the legs of
the skeleton and are thought to have been
sewn on his trousers. The scene of two
Scythians drinking from the same horn in
a ritual described by Herodotus is also
shown on a plaque made some fifty years
later (no. 76).
Lion, two Scythians sharing a drinking
horn, stag, reclining goat, and lion attacking
a stag, clothing ornament plaques. Gold,
lengths 3.2-2.3 cm. (1y/-7/8 in.).
Scythian, beginning of the 4th century B.C.
Ukrainian SSR, Melitopol region, Solokha
kurgan. Excavations of N. I. Veselovsky,
1913. Hermitage, Dn 1913, 1/42, 14,15,45,16.
Artamonov, Splendor, figs. 77-81.
72
73 (Color plate 14)
This torque was made in a region and
workshop where Greek influence was not
very strong. The native element in the
decoration is the form of the finials,
showing lions attacking boars; in Near
Eastern and Greek art, such finials
would normally be limited to the head or
protome (foreparts) of an animal.
Torque with lions attacking boars at the
ends. Gold, diameter 19 cm. (7/2 in.).
4th century B.C. Kuban region, near
Krymskaya village, Karagodeuashkh kurgan.
Excavations of E. D. Felitsin, 1888.
Hermitage, Ku 1888, 1/38.
A. Lappo-Danilevsky, V. Malmberg,
"Kurgan Karagodeuashkh," MAR 1894,
pl. II, 7,8,9.
74
Like the gold torque (no. 73), this gold
plaque was made in a native workshop, and
the subject matter is taken from local
cults. Vases found in this kurgan allow us
to date it in the third quarter of the
fourth century B.C., before the beginning
of the Hellenistic period. The plaque's
tapering shape is awkward, but the artist
has grouped his composition along a
central axis, and has insisted on strict
frontality for all his human figures.
Triangular plaque with three bands of
figures: a woman, a woman or man driving
a chariot, and a queen or goddess and
attendants. Gold, length 21 cm. (715l6 in.).
End of the 4th century B.C. Kuban region,
near Krymskaya village, Karagodeuashkh
kurgan. Excavations of E. D. Felitsin, 1888.
Hermitage, Ku 1888, 1/7.
Artamonov, Splendor, pl. 318.
75 (Color plate 14)
The ketos was a fierce sea monster with
a wolf-like head, the body of a fish, wings,
and a serrated mane. Andromeda and
Hesione were exposed to such monsters
but were rescued by Perseus and Heracles.
Ketos, clothing ornament plaque. Gold,
height 4.7 cm. (17/s in.).
Greek workmanship, 4th century B.C.
Crimea, near Kerch, Kul Oba kurgan.
Excavations, 1830. Hermitage, KO 63.
Artamonov, Splendor, pi. 256.
76 (Color plate 14)
Two Scythians are sharing the same
drinking horn in a ritual described by
Herodotus. They are shown with their
foreheads and noses pressed together,
creating the illusion of a single frontal
face and two bodies. The conceit of
two creatures with their heads conjoined
is common in ancient art in the depiction
of animals, but is here applied to human
beings. This plaque is about fifty years later
than the similar one from Solokha
(no. 72).
Two Scythians sharing a drinking
horn, clothing ornament plaque. Gold, height
4.9 cm. (l1516 in.).
4th century B.C. Crimea, near Kerch, Kul
Oba kurgan. Excavations, 1830. Hermitage,
KO 41.
Artamonov, Splendor, pl. 203.