Spout of a fountain in the form of a lion

Lions have been represented in figurative art for many centuries. There are innumerable examples, most notably in Mesopotamia and among the Sumerians in the 4th millennium. As symbols of a sovereign’s power, sculpted lions have stood guard on facades and decorated the underside of thrones, and the lion protome is a common decorative feature on the backs of chairs. An important motif in princely iconography during Antiquity, it was present in both the Greco-Roman and Sassanian world.

In the Muslim world, they have played an important role ever since the Umayyad era, such as the sculpted lion[1] discovered in the Mchatta Palace in Jordan testifies. We see a whole scene of lions and other real and mythological animals[2] on its façade.

This lion spout comes from the site of Qal‘a, the capital of the Hammadids in the 11th century. Sculpted out of stone, it represents a seated lion, its tail curled over its side. With its jaws open, revealing fangs that extend to its cheeks, the lion’s face has bulging eyes, topped by thick eyebrows. A long mane spreads over its back and is worked in a pattern of leaf-like forms. This highly stylised piece is both sober and straightforward. The opening at the mouth, from which the water spouts out, shows that it served as the spout of a fountain—a symbol of the luxury of life in the Qal‘a des Banu Hammad[3].

The shape of this lion can be compared to other contemporaneous pieces, such as the lion of Cairo[4], or the one in the Louvre produced in Spain, both of which reveal to what extent the decorative use of the animal was a current feature of fountains, and continued to be so during later dynasties such as that of the Nasrids[5].

In the Iranian world, the lion is a frequent motif that appears in art and on utilitarian objects. There is a close formal relationship between Iranian representations and this Algerian spout of a fountain. The incense burner in the form of a lion at the Louvre[6] presents the same round and slightly flattened head with its sharp fangs and nose in relief, the same ovoid eyes, which may have been in relief with inlays of glass. The animal’s legs are taught and lean, bent at the joints and slightly carved at the feet.

In the East and the West, the lion is present on any number of supports and rendered in a variety of techniques: sculpted, engraved, painted and woven—as on the cloth with lions in the Dumbarton Oaks collection[7]. The symbol of the lion was frequently employed to decorate western blazons or coat of arms; it recurs as frequently as the eagle. In the Christian context (western and oriental) it is sometimes connected to a king: Louis XIV was represented by the lion in the fables of La Fontaine; it is the symbol of Saint Mark; a symbol of perseverance and bravura, it was taken up by cities such as Venice; it is often a decorative motif in biblical scenes.  The stone frieze[8] of the Chelas church in Portugal, with its three stylised lions against a background of palmettes and tendrils, is a clear indication of the formal ties that exist across cultures. The lion is also very present in Jewish iconography, in which it recurs frequently as a decorative motif on Hanukkah lamps or on scrolls of the Torah as the symbol of the tribe of Judah.

These works of art, which have an aesthetic aim but above all a functional purpose, have adopted the lion for its positive traits; in both cultures it carries primarily a positive meaning. There are surprising formal similarities among certain representations that again points to the great interchange of works of art, of artists and their techniques.

[1] Fountain of a sculpted lion, 7th-8th century, Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst.

[2] The baths of Khirbat al-Mafjar also show, on the level of the façade, a statue in the round of the sovereign standing on a pedestal supported by two lions.

[3] Fatamid vassals who resisted for over a century before being defeated by the Almohads.

[4] Small bronze statue of a lion, Egypt, 11 th-12th century, Cairo, Museum of Islamic Art., inv. 4305.

[5] As the spout of a fountain in the shape of a lion testifies from the maristân of Grenada (14th century, marble, Grenada, Museo de la Alhambra, inv. 10219-10220) and the fountain of the lion courtyard of the Alhambra.

[6] 11th-12th century, Iran, Khurasan, cast bronze, openwork and engraving, inlaid with glass, Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. AA 19.

[7] Piece of cloth with lions and horses, second half of the 4th century, Washington, Dumbarton Oaks Collection, n° 39.13.

[8] Ornamental frieze with confronted lions, Portugal, provenance: the Chelas convent,  9th-10th century, limestone, Lisbon, Museu Arqeologico do Carmo, s.n.