Shears in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2008

Shears
Perhaps 2nd century AD
Said to be from Trabzon, northeastern Turkey (ancient Trebizond)
Bronze inlaid with silver and black copper (?)

Accession # 39.2.2

This piece is remarkable for its rich inlays. Both sides of each blade are decorated with three registers of figures. Whoever created the design clearly had a sense of humor; when the shears are closed, the top register brings a dog face-to-face with a cat on one side and a lion on the other.

The combination of vague iconography, attenuated drawing, and dour expressions marks the shears as in an "Egyptianizing" rather than an actual Egyptian style. Perhaps they served a ritual function at an Isis sanctuary at ancient Trebizond on the Black Sea.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.