Handle in the Form of a Leopard

This handle is in the shape of a rampant leopard and was formerly attached to a vessel, probably an oinochoe. The leopard seems to growl; the mouth is open, its tongue out, its triangular ears are laid back, and the area between its eyes is molded into deep furrows. The underside of the forepaws is flattened to grip the rim of a vessel. The hind paws are connected to a triangular attachment plate that would have been soldered to the vessel. The head is turned to the right; the tail coils around the hind legs. A fringe of fur with short hatch marks extends from the bottom of the lower section of all four limbs. There is a vertical depression running the length of the leopard’s belly. A vessel with a leopard-shaped handle was recently discovered in Wales and gives a good illustration of how the handle and vessel might have interacted (1). A vessel with a similar handle was found in Pompeii (2). NOTES: 1. S. Worrell, “Roman Britain 2003: Finds Reported Under the Portable Antiquities Scheme,” Britannia 35 (2004): 317-34, esp. 321-23, fig. 2. The head of the leopard in that case gazes into the vessel, while the head of the leopard on the Harvard handle looks away from it. 2. See also Piccoli bronzi del Real museo borbonico (Naples, 1858) pl. 4.23, from Pompeii; also published in L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, ed., Il bronzo dei Romani: Arredo e suppellettile (Rome, 1990) 111, fig. 59 and S. Tassinari, Il vasellame bronzo di Pompei, Ministero per i beni culturali ed ambientali, Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei 5 (Rome, 1993) 114, Type Y4000. Lisa M. Anderson