Waterspout in the shape of a lion's head, Greek, 6th-5th century B.C.

Carved with close, deeply set, rescessed eyes beneath a shallow brow, with broad, flat nose and whiskers incised on the muzzel from the nose to the cheekbones, the oval head with short radiating mane encircling it, the mouth agape, with hollowed out channel running larerally from back to front of the mouth

Note
Waterspouts lining the eaves of buildings were often shaped as openmouthed lions. They were frequently carved in one piece with the sima, the gutter-like element that ran along the edge of the roof. Used to channel and control the rainwater runoff from the roof, these spouts funneled the water through the lions' open mouths.

Provenance
Art market, Switzerland, 1994
Private collection, Switzerland, from the above

Publication
E. Simon e.a., Dei e Uomini, Roma 1997, 77

Literature
For other lion's head waterspouts cf. F. Willemsen, Die Löwenkopf-Wasserspeier vom Dach des Zeustempels, Berlin, 1959, pls. 54, 74, 90, 91, 99, & 100; M.Mertens-Horn, Die Löwenkopf-Wasserspeier des griechischen Westens im 6. und 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr., Mainz, 1988, pl. 17. Also see Christie's, New York, June 4th, 1999, lot 25 or Christie's, London, 14 April 2011, lot 254