1991.75.21, Lion head bracelet, Etruscan, late 6th century B.C.E., gold, blue glass, filigree, Archaic Etruscan

In antiquity, bracelets were usually worn in pairs. However, the number of surviving Greek and Etruscan bracelets is surprisingly small. The blue glass hoop of this Etruscan bracelet terminates at each end with a lion head made of sheet gold. Behind the base of each lion head is a collar decorated with two spirals and a palmette in filigree. The four loosely fitted gold bands on the hoop slide back and forth. This is a very rare piece; one other complete example that has survived is a bracelet found in a tomb in Monte Autò, now in the Museu di Villa Giulia in Rome. Fragments of glass hoops have been found in Italy, indicating Etruscan workmanship, though the style of these lion heads appears to be Greek. The Benaki Museum in Athens has a pair of animal finials in the form of rams from a necklace of the same type, but the hoop is missing. Depictions of lions were common in art all over the ancient world, from Egypt and the Near East westward. They had a range of meanings: royal power, fertility, guardian spirits, warlike prowess and triumph, and in some cases, perhaps triumph over death.

Apply to objects where number equals 1991.75.21