6th-5th century BC. A carved amber bead showing a lion attacking a young deer and a horned ibex; the body of the lion in attack position carved to the flat side of the bead, the convex side with the lion's grimacing face and the heads of the ibex and the deer; the lion's body with splayed legs and curling tail, hole beneath its voluminous mane. See Marinatos, A., Hirmer M., Crete and Mycenae, London, 1960; Causey, F., Ancient carved ambers in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2019, especially nr.31.45.7 grams, 63mm (2 1/2"). Property of a London gentleman; previously in the collection of Mr A.K., London, UK, acquired on the European art market in 1985; accompanied by a scholarly note TL5356 by Dr Ronald Bonewitz, and by an archaeological report by Dr. Raffaele D’Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10537-170344. A lion nearly identical to our specimen is part of a group of a lion attacking prey, the bow decoration of a bronze fibula from Tomb 72 at Belmonte Piceno. Related in form are a pendant in the form of a feline (Causey, 2017, accession number 77.AO.81.8, cat. no. 32) and two other fibula bow decorations from Tomb 72 at Belmonte Piceno, one of a lion attacking a deer and the other in the form of a pair of addorsed lions’ heads. The origin of the amber lions is possibly Mycenean or Minoan, and is particular close to the extant pendant formed by a gold couchant lion from Tomb 5 at Haghia Triada (circa 1500-1450 BC, see Marinatos & Hirmer, 1960, p.48").