Scythia
(10th - 4th c. B.C.)

Caste metal

[Bronze ceremonial battle axe with silver inlay] 1. Bronze ceremonial battle axe with silver inlay. A tiger, under attack, has brought down a wild goat. Ca. 1000-800 B.C. Probably Uzbekistan. (British Museum)
[Bronze coiled panther plaque] 2. Bronze coiled panther plaque. Breast ornament from horse harness. Arzhan kurgan, Tuva, south Siberia. 8th c. B.C. 25 cm. dia. (Kyzyl: State Museum of the Tuva). One of earliest known examples of Scythian art.
[Gold plaque of panther] 3. Gold plaque of panther with cloisonné inlay in ears and paws. Probably part of a scaled corselet. From Kelermes, South Russia (Leningrad: Hermitage Museum). Style entirely oriental.
[] 4. Electrum stag plaque. Late Scythian. Ca. 5th c. B.C. (Tapioszentmarton, Hungary). The pose is clumsy and limp, which is taken to be a symptom of the decline of the Scythian animal style.
[Late Graeco-Scythian gold plaque] 5. Late Graeco-Scythian gold plaque that served as a shield ornament. Stag from the Kul'-Oba kurgan, Crimea. 5th c. B.C. (Leningrad: Hermitage). Greek influences here compromise the Scythian animal style, making it less lively.

Repousée metal

[Silver vase inlaid with partial-gilt scenes of fighting animals] 1. Silver vase inlaid with partial-gilt scenes of fighting animals. Kul'-Oba kurgan, Crimea. Griffin attacks a goat (Leningrad: Hermitage). The style is Greek, while the themes are both Greek and eastern.
[] 2. Electrum vase from Kul'-Oba kurgan, Crimea. 4th c. B.C. Man treats companion for a mouth wound (Leningrad: Hermitage Museum). This is a Greek work that uses Scythian themes.
[Graeco-Scythian gold plate from a wooden rhyton] 3. Graeco-Scythian gold plate from a wooden rhyton from Seven Brothers Kurgan in the Crimea. A winged panther attacks a goat (Leningrad: Hermitage Museum). Graeco-Scythian style.
[Death mask of Scythian queen] 4. Death mask of Scythian queen, prob. 3rd c. A.D. Glinische, near Kerch, a refuge for Scythians from the steppe (Leningrad: Hermitage)

Textiles

[Felt hanging from kurgan 5 at Pazyryk] 1. Felt hanging from kurgan 5 at Pazyryk, Altai region. A horseman approaches the throne of a divine ruler, probably the Near Eastern Magna Mater, but her representation seems derived from the Far East (Leningrad: Hermitage).
[Applique on dyed felt hanging from kurgan 1 at Pazyryk, Altai region] 2. Applique on dyed felt hanging from kurgan 1 at Pazyryk, Altai region. Eagle-griffin attacks an ibex (Leningrad: Hermitage). Twisted form anticipates the late Sarmatian art of Siberia.