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『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

as the mane is not usually drawn. But in the Scythian region and even in the
Pre-Scythian period when it was connected with the antique cast, this wild
beast is distinctly reproduced. We have only to remember the well known first
find from Maikop (44). Later, in the Scythian art of the V and IV centuries we
notice a Greek influence, especially in the drawing of the lion. At the Chinese
frontier this animal was not a native beast, and the artists from our region must
have borrowed the details from western models, but they never clearly repre-
sented this species. It is possible that we should consider the animal of the large
applique (Pl. XIII 1 & 2) a lioness. The surface has in general a flat treatment,
but the strong relief of the head seems to be as much in keeping with ancient
Scythian art as with the Chinese art of the Chou. We have already remarked
upon the strange combination of low and high relief that belongs to both arts
(cf. Chapter III). The most important western example is the gilded animal
found at Simferopol (45). Thanks to the collector Massonneau a nearly iden-
tical repliqua is now in the Bliss collection (New York). Concerning the use of
the Scythian object, an observation made by Rostovtzeff is of particular inte-
rest. He considers it an applique from the lid of a quiver (46). A Han date,
however, seems to me impossible for the Chinese animal, in spite of its kinship
with its occidental prototype. It has against it the careless casting and the
ragged outline. The disproportionate size of the paws and tail does not conform
to an early period. The detail of the head (Pl. XIII no. 2) shows the spiral
design of the ears already noticed in Plate XI no. 22, typical of the art of the
Altai. The combination of ancient Scythian elements and the anatomical uncer-
tainty of the modeling should justify a date about 500. The applique of
Plate XIII no. 3 should also probably be considered a lion, but with fore-
shortened legs. Remains of its prey, the curved horn and head of an antelope,
lie at its feet. When we deal with belt plaques we shall again speak of wild
animals and their victims, and of their Jenissein model. The general flat
treatment and the indistinct rendering of the prey makes us turn to the end of
the millennium. At this turning-point in art we even find a strange and entirely
unrecognisable creature complete with the claws of a wild animal (Pl. XIII
no. 4) and crowned with a strange shape, half tuft, half ear; the tail grooved
in several places has the old Scytho-Sarmatian motive, the bird-head tip.
This last example brings us to the stage where any zoological determination
of these reproductions of wild animals is quite impossible, as is the case with
a group of undefinable animals reproduced on Plate XIV. There is a tendancy
in the outline of the head of Plate XIV no. 1 to separate it from the whole, as
Schmidt has already noticed in late Scythian art (47). According to Scythian
prototypes one would expect to find a bird's head back of the mane (cf.
Plate XXIV no. 5). The drawing here is weak and the curled forelock and the
spiral below the jaws are a part of the badly understood rudments. On the