*Large roaring lioness head. Wide open mouth... Lot 1

*Large roaring lioness head. Wide open mouth showing two rows of well aligned teeth. The muscles of the lioness, swollen by the intensity of the action, are represented by parallel bulges that frame the nose on the cheeks and muzzle. The ears, of which only the attachment remains, seem to be drooping like those of the wounded lioness of the palace of Nineveh under Ashurbanipal. A collar of half-ovoids marks the start of the mane, a detail also found on the 'Ugallu' lion-demons depicted in the bas-reliefs of the Nineveh palace, ca 645 BC. The wide-open eyes have very angular eyelid rims, quite characteristic of the Neo-Assyrian style and visible especially on the winged androcephalic bull geniuses of Khorsabad. The curved eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes were once inlaid with another material. Lapis lazuli, Splinter at the base of the jaw. Extremities of the upper canines missing. Luster at the level of the nose. Height 12 cm, Depth 17.5 cm Middle East, Neo-Assyrian Art, 9th - 7th century BC. B.C. Former von der Aue collection. Exhibited at the Rath Museum in Geneva in 1966 in catalogue of the exhibition "Treasure of Ancient Iran" n° 667 p. 119 fig..63, presented at the time as Achaemenid. *Temporary import