Iran, Luristan / 900–700 BCE
Hero and Animal Combat Beaker
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Hero and Animal Combat Beaker as metalwork (Iran, Luristan · 900–700 BCE).
Repoussé is a technique of hammering into metal to create designs and figures.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this metalwork as silver, repoussé, engraved.
The museum's collection notes: On this silver beaker, two registers show men grabbing felines by the paws and stabbing rearing beasts amid stylized trees. The bearded men wear long robes and scarves, carefully created using repoussé. A large guilloche pattern (interlacing curved lines) containing a smaller guilloche pattern and punctuated by round bosses fills the space between the registers. This beaker may show a Master of Animals or a hero in combat, popular motifs in the ancient Near East.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtHero and Animal Combat BeakerOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.