Unknown bronze four lions with one head.

Hi,

I have this antique bronze, no idea what it is from, it has a hole in each corner and depicts a lions head with four bodies. I have seen similar Iranian art illustrations. I messaged Amir Mohtashemi an expert on Persian antiques and he hasn’t seen anything like this. Does anybody know or has anybody seen anything like this. It’s bronze and definitely old. Got a nice weight to it too.

 

It measures approx 5 inches diameter.

 

I wonder if they might be tigers rather than lions.

 

Potentially going by the markings to the body.

 

Nice find, and looks related to the image you found. The Persian empire was huge, it included a large chunk of Central Asia as well.

The wavy stripes could indicate fur rather than an actual pattern. If they are meant to be tigers, the origin could be Indo-Persian, rather than Iran proper. A related cultural area.

 

Thank you Any Jewelry I shall look into potential Indo Persian metalware and see if anything looks similar.

 

My uneducated guess would be, this is a purely decorative piece that could be mounted to the lid of a chest or trunk, or mounted on a piece of furniture, or used in an architectural setting, etc.

 

My guess too.

 

Thirded. The piece it was attached to fell apart or was damaged, and someone saved the kitties.

 

Those poor kitties need a soaking in warm water to get the old, dried polish off