Minoan / Lentoid seal with a griffin / ca. 1450-1400 B.C.

Minoan
Lentoid seal with a griffin
ca. 1450-1400 B.C.
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Creator Nationality: European; Southern European; Cretan; Minoan
Creator Name-CRT: Minoan
Title: Lentoid seal with a griffin
Title Type: Object name
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: -145
Creation End Date: -140
Creation Date: ca. 1450-1400 B.C.
Object Type: Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Classification Term: Gems
Materials and Techniques: Agate
Dimensions: H. 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm), W. 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm), D. 1/2 in. (1.2 cm)
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 14.104.1
Credit Line: Funds from various donors, 1914
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/
Context:

Before literacy became widespread, seals served for identification or to mark ownership. While the first seals may have been made of organic materials that have perished, the earliest surviving examples are of clay. During the Early Minoan period (ca. 2600-2000 B.C.), various easily worked materials, such as ivory, bone, shell, and the soft stones, serpentine and steatite, were adopted. During the Middle Minoan and Late Minoan periods, harder stones, such as rock crystal, haematite, jasper, agate, and chalcedony, gained favor. The general dating of seals is correlated with that of the palaces that were the centers of culture on Crete. The apogee of Minoan gem engraving occurred during the time of the second palaces, between about 1600 and 1450 B.C., when semiprecious stones, such as agate, were engraved with consummately rendered figural subjects, particularly animals. This gem, slightly later in date, depicts in the Aegean style a griffin, a powerful mythical creature with the head and wings of a bird and the body of a lion.

AMICA ID: MMA_.14.104.1
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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