King grasping two winged bull-dragons

between 550 B.C. and 450 B.C.
greyish-pink limestone
35 x 15 mm
Morgan Seal 820
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"Seals 819-825 show the motif most frequently encountered in Achaemenian cylinders--that of a king holding at bay or subduing two monsters or lions, rendered in a symmetrical composition recalling the Assyrian cylinders 753-763. The king wears the billowy Persian garments in all of these scenes, except for the occurrence of the fringed Assyrian mantle in 822.". Porada, CANES, p. 103

Summary: 

King grasping two winged bull-dragons that have lion heads and bird claws.

Period: 
Classification: 
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