id: 108980 accession number: 1927.146 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1927.146 updated: 2022-01-04 15:06:16.569000 Griffin Protome, 625-575 BC. Greece, Ionian, 6th Century BC. Bronze; overall: 13.9 cm (5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund 1927.146 title: Griffin Protome title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 625-575 BC creation date earliest: -625 creation date latest: -575 current location: 102B Greek creditline: The Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund copyright: --- culture: Greece, Ionian, 6th Century BC technique: bronze department: Greek and Roman Art collection: GR - Greek type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 13.9 cm (5 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Images of the Mind opening date: 1987-07-07T04:00:00 Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Ludwig Pollak, Rome, Italy, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: -1927 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1927- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Fossilized Protoceratops dinosaur bones may lie behind the eagle/lion form of the mythical griffin. digital description: This bird-like head and neck, with sharp beak and tongue, belongs to a griffin, a fantastic bird/lion hybrid prominently found in both Greek and Near Eastern artwork. Often, as here, the griffin has large upright ears (probably feline, in keeping with its lion body) as well as a knob-like projection atop its head. The scaly neck terminates in a flange once pierced with holes for connection to the shoulder of a large bronze cauldron, which would have been ornamented with three or more such griffins. wall description: This bird-like head and neck, with sharp beak and tongue, belongs to a griffin, a fantastic bird/lion hybrid prominently found in both Greek and Near Eastern artwork. Often, as here, the griffin has large upright ears (probably feline, in keeping with its lion body) as well as a knob-like projection atop its head. The scaly neck terminates in a flange once pierced with holes for connection to the shoulder of a large bronze cauldron—not unlike the later one displayed here beside it—which would have been ornamented with three or more such griffins. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Benson, J. L. 1960. “Unpublished Griffin Protomes in American Collections.” Antike Kunst 3 (2): 58–70. page number: Pl. 2.6. url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41318521 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1927.146/1927.146_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1927.146/1927.146_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1927.146/1927.146_full.tif