Furniture plaque: lion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This plaque in the shape of a seated lion belongs to a group of carved ivories, mostly furniture elements, probably found at the site of a palace at Acemhöyük in central Anatolia. It closely resembles another plaque in the same group which is also in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection (36.152.5). The mane is shown in the form of individual tufts, each ending in an upturned curl, with a row of smaller locks separating it from the face. The mouth is open in a roar, showing numerous teeth. An inlay originally fit into the eye socket, but is now missing. The overall gray color indicates that the object was exposed to considerable heat, perhaps during the destruction of the palace.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.

Metropolitan Museum of Art