Piccola figura di leone in lega di rame ageminata,... Lot n° 36

Small bronze casting with reddish patina depicting a lion sitting on its hind legs. The tail, with knotted end, is bent and joined to the mane to form a practical handle. The mane, eyes and leg profiles of the quadruped show conspicuous traces of silver agemine. The object has close similarities with medieval Khorasan incense burners in the features of the snout, the conformation of the paws, and the decoration of the paws and chest; while the position of the paws is more similar to Fatimid aquamaniles (see Museum Islamic Art Cairo Acc. no. MIA 140709023). The absence of fretwork decoration and the grippable tail make the work a kind of miniature aquamanile, similar to those widespread in medieval Europe. Dodd finds it highly plausible that the iconographic origin of medieval European dynanderies is to be sought precisely in Islamic artifacts (E.C.Dodd, On the Origins of Medieval Dynanderie: The Equestrian Statue in Islam, The Art Bulletin , Sep., 1969, Vol. 51, No. 3 -Sep., 1969-, pp. 220-232).