Guennol Lioness
Encyclopedia
The Guennol Lioness is a 5,000-year-old Mesopotamia
n statue found near Baghdad
, Iraq
. Depicting a well-muscled anthropomorphic
lioness
, it sold for $57.2 million at Sotheby's
auction house on December 5, 2007. The piece was acquired by private collector Alastair Bradley Martin in 1948 and has been on display in New York City
's Brooklyn Museum of Art ever since.
At the time of its sale, the price paid at auction for The Guennol Lioness was the highest for a sculpture in history, easily beating the record of Pablo Picasso
's Tete de femme (Dora Maar)
. However on 3 February 2010, the second edition of the cast of the sculpture L'Homme qui marche I
(Walking Man I) by Alberto Giacometti
sold for £65,001,250 ($104,327,006) and surpassed The Guennol Lioness as the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction.
The limestone
piece, measuring just over 8 cm (3.25 in) tall, was described by Sotheby's as "one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands." One day before the auction, experts mostly estimated the highest bid to be between $14 million and $18 million. It also beat the $28.6 million paid for "Artemis and the Stag
," a 2,000-year-old bronze
figure which sold also at Sotheby's in New York in June 2007 and held the record for the most expensive antiquity to be sold at auction.
figure believed to have been created circa 3000–2800 BC, was listed as belonging to the Brooklyn Museum of Art until it was purchased at auction by an English collector. Its historical significance is that it is thought to have been created at about the same time when the first known use of the wheel, the development of cuneiform
writing, and the emergence of the first cities were recorded.
These humanlike animal figures can be seen in the top and bottom registers of the trapezoidal front panel from the famous Great Lyre
from the "King's Grave" (circa 2650–2550 BC), which was discovered by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley
early in the 20th century at Ur
in present-day Iraq
.
Many ancient Near East
deities were represented in anthropomorphic figures (figures with human and animal features merged). Such humanlike animal images evoked the Mesopotamians' belief in attaining power over the physical world by combining the superior physical attributes of various species. The nearby Sumer
ians possibly borrowed this powerful artistic hybrid from the Proto-Elamites.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
n statue found near Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Depicting a well-muscled anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
lioness
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, it sold for $57.2 million at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
auction house on December 5, 2007. The piece was acquired by private collector Alastair Bradley Martin in 1948 and has been on display in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Brooklyn Museum of Art ever since.
At the time of its sale, the price paid at auction for The Guennol Lioness was the highest for a sculpture in history, easily beating the record of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
's Tete de femme (Dora Maar)
Tete de femme (Dora Maar)
Tete de femme is a plaster-modelled, bronze-cast sculpture by Pablo Picasso. Dora Maar, Picasso's lover at the time, was the subject of the work which was originally conceived in 1941...
. However on 3 February 2010, the second edition of the cast of the sculpture L'Homme qui marche I
L'Homme qui marche I
L’Homme qui marche I is the name of any one of the cast bronze sculptures that comprise six numbered editions plus four artist proofs created by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti in 1961...
(Walking Man I) by Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
sold for £65,001,250 ($104,327,006) and surpassed The Guennol Lioness as the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction.
The limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
piece, measuring just over 8 cm (3.25 in) tall, was described by Sotheby's as "one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands." One day before the auction, experts mostly estimated the highest bid to be between $14 million and $18 million. It also beat the $28.6 million paid for "Artemis and the Stag
Artemis and the Stag
Artemis and the Stag is an early Roman Imperial or Hellenistic bronze sculpture of the ancient Greek goddess Artemis. In June 2007 the Albright-Knox Art Gallery placed the statue into auction; it fetched $28.6 million, the highest sale price of any sculpture at the time.-Description:The statue...
," a 2,000-year-old bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
figure which sold also at Sotheby's in New York in June 2007 and held the record for the most expensive antiquity to be sold at auction.
History
The Lioness Demon, an ElamiteElam
Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq...
figure believed to have been created circa 3000–2800 BC, was listed as belonging to the Brooklyn Museum of Art until it was purchased at auction by an English collector. Its historical significance is that it is thought to have been created at about the same time when the first known use of the wheel, the development of cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
writing, and the emergence of the first cities were recorded.
These humanlike animal figures can be seen in the top and bottom registers of the trapezoidal front panel from the famous Great Lyre
Lyres of Ur
The Lyres of Ur or Harps of Ur are considered to be the worlds oldest surviving stringed instruments. In 1929, archaeologists discovered pieces of three lyres and one harp in Ur, located in what was Ancient Mesopotamia and is contemporary Iraq...
from the "King's Grave" (circa 2650–2550 BC), which was discovered by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley
Leonard Woolley
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia...
early in the 20th century at Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
in present-day Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
Many ancient Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
deities were represented in anthropomorphic figures (figures with human and animal features merged). Such humanlike animal images evoked the Mesopotamians' belief in attaining power over the physical world by combining the superior physical attributes of various species. The nearby Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ians possibly borrowed this powerful artistic hybrid from the Proto-Elamites.
See also
- Aruz, Joan (ed.), et al. Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003, 42-44, 105-107.
- Zettler, Richard L. and Lee Horne (eds.). Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur (exh. cat.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1998, 53-57.