Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

18 (Color plate 3)
This golden stag was found lying in place
on an iron shield that it must originally
have decorated-one of the few instances in
which it is absolutely certain how such
large, animal-shaped plaques were used.
The stag, one of the most popular Scythian
motifs, was possibly one of their totems;
it is customarily shown in this passive
(possibly dead) pose. The beveled form of
the surface-planes meeting at sharp
angles-suggests that this style was
developed in some carved material such
as wood or bone.
Recumbent stag, shield plaque. Gold, length
31.7 cm. (121/ in.), height 19 cm. (71/2 in.).
Scythian, late 7th-early 6th century B.C.
Krasnodar region, Kostromskaya kurgan.
Excavations of N. I. Veselovsky, 1897.
Hermitage, Ku 1897, 1/1.
M. I. Artamonov, The Splendor of Scythian
Art (New York, 1969), pls. 62-64.
19
Chariot finial, stag on an openwork sphere.
Bronze, height 26 cm. (104 in.).
Scythian, late 7th-early 6th century B.C.
Krasnodar region, Makhoshevskaya village.
Chance find, 1895. Hermitage, Ku 1895, 2/1.
Smirnova, Domansky, Drevnee iskusstvo,
pI. 39.
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20
The onager, a small Asiatic wild ass, has
long pointed ears, here exaggerated. The
simplified rendering of the animal's head
and neck gives it a particularly arresting
appearance.
Onager's head, chariot finial. Bronze, height
16.5 cm. (61/2 in.).
Scythian, late 7th-early 6th century B.C.
Krasnodar region. Kelermes, kurgan 1.
Excavations of N. I. Veselovsky, 1904.
Hermitage, Ku 1904, 2/29.
Artamonov, Splendor, pl. 5.
21
Ram's head, part of a bridle. Bone, height
3cm. (13/6 in.).
Scythian, late 7th-early 6th century B.C.
Krasnodar region, Kelermes, kurgan 1.
Excavations of N. I. Veselovsky, 1904.
Hermitage, Ku 1904, 2/66.
Unpublished.
22
Curled-up panther, part of a bridle. Bone,
height 2 cm. (3/4 in.).
Scythian, late 7th-early 6th century B.C.
Krasnodar region, Kelermes, kurgan 1.
Excavations of N. I. Veselovsky, 1904.
Hermitage, Ku 1904, 2/178.
Artamonov, Splendor, p. 12, fig. 7 (left
center).
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23
Griffin's head with ram's horns, part of a
bridle. Bone, height 2.9 cm. (1?8 in.).
Scythian, late 7th-early 6th century B.C.
Krasnodar region, Kelermes, kurgan 1.
Excavations of N. I. Veselovsky, 1904.
Hermitage, Ku 1904, 2/73.
Artamonov, Splendor, p. 12, fig. 7 (right
center).
24
Two golden diadems were wound around
the cast-bronze helmet at Kelermes,
symbolizing both the man's rank and his
warlike qualities. Helmets of this type
occur earlier in the Far East.
Helmet. Bronze, height 20 cm. (77/8 in.).
Scythian culture of the Kuban region, late
7th-early 6th century B.C. Krasnodar region,
Kelermes, kurgan 1. Excavations of N. I.
Veselovsky, 1904. Hermitage, Ku 1904,
2/149.
B. Z. Rabinovich, "Shlemy skifskogo
perioda," Trudy otdela istorii pervobytnoi
kultury 1 (Leningrad, 1941), pp. 107-108,
pl. II.
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