Goat attacked by lion

between 499 and 400 B.C.
dark-green glass
24.5 x 21.5 mm
Morgan Seal 843
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"Seals 842 and 843 clearly show deviation from the Mesopotamian practice that prevailed in the beginning stage of the Achaemenian empire. Though a lion attacking a bull (842) or a goat (843) is one of the stock motifs of Mesopotamian art, the theme became stereotyped after the Middle Assyrian period, and the lifelike representation found in 842 is matched only in Greek gems of the sixth and fifth cneturies. In 843 the subject is renderd with far less expression. The latter seal is notable for two reasons: it is made of dark-green glass, a very unusual material, and the crosshatched section below the animals has parallels only in greco-Phoenician glyptic."--Porada, CANES, p. 105
Conical seal with rounded top and circular base.

Summary: 

Goat attacked by lion -- Crosshatched section below.

Period: 
Classification: 
Department: