fragment

"Fragment of shoulder of big vessel with appliqué moulded relief representing a griffin." Montell 1936./Is

"Two more reliefs in the Hedin collection of which I have found no counterparts in other collections from Yotkan are reproduced in Pl. VI,1. Tey have been manufactured in the same mould, but as in one of them the head is missing and the other lacks the foot portion. I have caused a reconstruction to be made, Fig. 13. The motif is easily recognizable: it represents the garuda bird holding Nagas in its talons. As will be seen, the bird is shown in dir4ect front view. The beak is broad and parrot-like, roughly resembling the same motif as seen in the Lamaistic paintings. The plumage is distinctly defined, while the legs are powerful and issue from the bird´s body from the same point as the wings. The latter have lost all trace of naturalism and have been changed into acanthus leaves.
The bird´s talons rest against an ornament that without too great presumptio may be interpreted as Nagas. The middle portion consists of a trisected rectangle, surrounded by beads, at each end of which is placed a crocodile´s head. The motif must be regarded as very degenerate, but there cannot very well be any doubt as to its origin."

Montell har valt att kalla detta sagodjur med lejonkropp för grip, engelska griffin eller garudafågel./Is