Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

153
Dagger with mountain goats' heads on the
hilt and figures of tigers on the guard.
Iron, length 30.2 cm. (117% in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C.
Environs of the town of Minusinsk. Chance
find, 1914. Hermitage, 1669/1.
S. V. Kiselev, Drevnyaya istoriya Yuzhnoy
Sibiri (Moscow, 1951), p. 237, pl. XXII, 3.
154
Cheekpiece with predatory animals' heads
at the ends. Bronze, length 14 cm. (51/2 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C.
Minusinsk region, Abakanskoye village. I. A.
Lopatin Collection. Hermitage, 5531/305.
Gryaznov, Southern Siberia, pl. 34.
155
Tiger holding a ram's head, plaque. Bronze,
length 7.7 cm. (3 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C.
Minusinsk region, Askyz village. I. A.
Lopatin Collection. Hermitage, 5531/1396.
Artamonov, Sokrovishcha sakov, p. 109,
fig. 149.
156
Onager, harness ornament. Bronze, length
5 cm. (2 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C.
Minusinsk region. Chance find. Purchase,
1913. I. P. Tovostine Collection. Hermitage,
3975/316.
Artamonov, Sokrovishcha sakov, p. 107,
fig. 144.
157
Torque with tigers at the ends. Bronze,
diameter 17.5 cm. (6/8 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C.
Siberia. Stroganov Collection. Hermitage,
1135/11.
Rudenko, Sibirskaya kollektsiya, p. 17,
fig. 10.
158
Pendant decorated with a human face. Bone,
height 4.4 cm. (134 in.).
Tuva culture of the Scythian period, 5th-3rd
centuries B.C. Tuva, Sagly-Bazhi burial 2,
kurgan 19. Excavations of A.D. Grach,
1961. Hermitage, 2351/207.
Unpublished.
159
Mirror with fighting tigers on the handle.
Bronze, diameter 6.2 cm. (27/6 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C. Tuva,
Sagly-Bazhi burial 2, kurgan 23. Excavations
of A.D. Grach, 1961. Hermitage, 2351/286.
A.D. Grach, "Mogilnik Sagly-Bazhi II
i voprosy arkheologii Tuvy skifskogo
vremeni," SA (1967), no. 3, p. 226, fig. 10;
Artamonov, Sokrovishcha sakov, p. 81,
fig. 104.
157
160 (Color plate 26)
Plaques such as this, of characteristic
P-shape, have been interpreted as belt
buckles, dress appliques, or mounts
for sword scabbards. This one is especially
interesting in that it depicts a horse; in
spite of the dependence of the nomads'
culture on their domesticated animals,
most of the creatures represented in their
art are wild species.
Horse, plaque. Bone, length 11 cm. (4X/4 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C. Tuva,
Sagly-Bazhi burial 2, kurgan 23. Excavations
of A.D. Grach, 1961. Hermitage, 2351/268.
Grach, SA (1967), no. 3, p. 229, fig. 12.
161
Plaque decorated with mountain rams. Bone
length 7.5 cm. (3 in.).
Altai nomadic, 5th-3rd centuries B.C. Tuva,
Sagli-Bazhi burial 2, kurgan 18. Excavations
of A.D. Grach, 1961. Hermitage, 2351/183.
Artamonov, Sokrovishcha sakov, p. 81,
fig. 107.
162