Running Animals Belt

Description

The design is one of running and leaping animals "drawn" with an elegance, vigor, and power reminiscent of those cultures who have lived most closely with wild animals and therefore appreciated them best, such as, for one example, the Neolithic cave painters of Lascaux. The animal figures on the belt are not actually drawn, but are punched with an extremely fine punch tool in very carefully planned lines that actually look as though they are drawn. This was a technique used in about 1000 BC.

Provenance

(Atlantis Antiquities, NY)

Running Animals Belt

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c. 1000 BCE

Accession Number

1988.71

Medium

bronze, hammered and incised

Dimensions

Overall: 7.6 x 67.6 x 1.2 cm (3 x 26 5/8 x 1/2 in.)

Classification

Metalwork

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

In honor of Kathleen B. Sherwin