Gold Decoration for a Scabbard in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Sheet-gold decoration for a sword scabbard
Greek, 340-320 BC
Said to have been found near Chaian in the Crimea on the northern shore of the Black Sea

Accession # 30.11.12

In the main frieze is a battle between Greeks and barbarians; at the left end stand two griffins. The irregular field above the frieze shows deer being killed, one by a lion, the other by a griffiin.

The scabbard from which this gold decoration came would have been of another material, possibly bronze or iron. Such an elaborately embellished scabbard would have formed part of a ceremonial set of Scythian weapons.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.