The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 5, 2023

Running Animals Belt

c. 1000 BC

Russia or Turkey, Caucasus, Koban culture, early 11th Century BC

Bronze, hammered and incised

Overall: 7.6 x 67.6 x 1.2 cm (3 x 26 5/8 x 1/2 in.)

In honor of Kathleen B. Sherwin 1988.71

Location

102A Ancient Near East

Fun Fact

The Scythians arose from nomadic tribes that wandered from the steppes to eastern Europe; the greatest numbers of finds related to them have come from the areas around the Black Sea.

Description

The design is one of running and leaping animals "drawn" with an elegance, vigor, and power reminiscent of those cultures who have lived most closely with wild animals and therefore appreciated them best, such as, for one example, the Neolithic cave painters of Lascaux. The animal figures on the belt are not actually drawn, but are punched with an extremely fine punch tool in very carefully planned lines that actually look as though they are drawn. This was a technique used in about 1000 BC.

Provenance
(Atlantis Antiquities, NY)
Citations
Kozloff, Arielle, and Nino Urushadze. "Animal Style Bronze Art and Its Closest Parallels: A Bronze Belt and Axe Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 5 (1994): 118-39. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 118-39 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.71