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Scythian Gilded Bronze Appliqué Artifact with Lion circa
300-400 A.D.
3.6 x 2.1 x 0.1 centimeters (3.40 grams)
Provenance: From private collection in the United States of America.
Ownership History: From private collection in the United States, bought in
private sale in the United States of America.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
In its broadest sense, an appliqué is a smaller ornament or device
applied to another surface. The technique is very common in some kinds of
textiles
, but may be applied to many materials.
In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay
added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration.
The term is borrowed from
French
and, in this context, means “applied” or
“thing that has been applied.” Appliqué is a surface pattern that is used to
decorate an aspect of a garment or product.
The
Scythians also
known as Scyth, Saka, Sakae, Sai, Iskuzai, or
Askuzai, were
Eurasian nomads
, probably mostly using
Eastern Iranian languages
, who were mentioned
by the literate peoples surrounding them as inhabiting large areas in the
central Eurasian
steppes
from about the 9th century BC up until
the 4th century AD. The “classical Scythians” known to ancient Greek historians
were located in the
northern Black Sea
and
fore-Caucasus
region. Other Scythian groups
documented by
Assyrian
,
Achaemenid
and
Chinese
sources show that they also existed in
Central Asia
, where they were referred to as
the Iskuzai/Askuzai, Saka (Old
Persian: Sakā;
New Persian
/Pashto:
ساکا;
Sanskrit
: शक
Śaka;
Greek
: Σάκαι;
Latin
: Sacae), and Sai (Chinese:
塞;
Old Chinese
: *sˤək),
respectively.[5]
The relationships between the peoples living in these widely separated
regions remains unclear. The term “Scythian” is used by modern scholars in an
archaeological context
for finds perceived to
display attributes of the “Scytho-Siberian” culture, usually without implying an
ethnic or linguistic connotation. The term Scythic may also be used in a
similar way, “to describe a special phase that followed the widespread diffusion
of mounted nomadism, characterized by the presence of special weapons,
horse gear
, and
animal art
in the form of metal plaques”. Their
westernmost territories during the
Iron Age
were known to classical Greek sources
as Scythia
.
The Scythians were among the earliest peoples to master
mounted warfare
. In the 8th century BC they
possibly raided
Zhou China
. Soon after they expanded westwards
and dislodged the
Cimmerians
from power on the
Pontic Steppe
. At their peak, Scythians came to
dominate the entire steppe zone, stretching from the
Carpathian Mountains
in the west to the central
China
(Ordos
culture) and the south
Siberia
(Tagar
culture) in the east, creating what has been referred to as the first
Central Asian
nomadic empire
.
Based in Crimea
the western Scythians were ruled by a
wealthy class known as the Royal Scyths. The Scythians established and
controlled a vast trade network
connecting
Greece
,
Persia
,
India
and
China
, perhaps contributing to the contemporary
flourishing of those civilizations. Settled metalworkers made portable
decorative objects for the Scythians. These objects survive mainly in metal,
forming a distinctive
Scythian art
. In the 7th century BC the
Scythians crossed the
Caucasus
and frequently raided the
Middle East
along with the Cimmerians, playing
an important role in the political developments of the region. Around 650–630
BC, Scythians briefly dominated the
Medes
of the
Iranian Plateau
, stretching their power all the
away to the borders of
Egypt
. After losing control over Media the
Scythians continued intermedling in Middle Eastern affairs, playing a leading
role in the destruction of the
Assyrian Empire
in the
Sack of Nineveh
in 612 BC. The Scythians
subsequently engaged in frequent conflicts with the
Achaemenid Empire
. The western Scythians
suffered a major defeat against
Macedonia
in the 4th century BC, and were
subsequently gradually conquered by the
Sarmatians
, a related Iranian people from
Central Asia. The Scythians of the
Asian Steppe
(Saka) were attacked by the
Yuezhi
,
Wusun
and
Xiongnu
in the 2nd century BC, prompting many
of them to migrate into
South Asia
, where they became known as
Indo-Scythians
. In the 3rd century AD, after
the demise of the
Han dynasty
and the Xiongnu, the remaining
Scythians crossed the
Pamir Mountains
and settled in the western
Tarim Basin
, where the Scythian
Khotanese
and
Tumshuqese languages
are attested in
Brahmi scripture
from the 10th and 11th
centuries AD.
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