Booty or souvenir?

Beyond the striking monuments and statues, it is quite rewarding to spend time studying the many smaller artefacts that end up in the showcases of a museum. They are generally mixed with other similar items or just odds and ends.

One such a remarkable piece is this Achaemenid Lion head applique from the 5th-4th century BC exhibited at the Museum for Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands. The lion is looking to the left. Another example that could be its twin is found at the Met Museum in New-York. From the description at the Met, it appears that the backside of the applique has five rings meant to attach it to the fabric.

The design is quite fascinating, simple, but very revealing at the same time. What’s more, it is timeless for it could well be a modern slightly abstract rendition of a lion.

Since antiquity, the lion stands for strength and power. As such, this animal is frequently linked to royalty. It was the king's privilege to hunt for lions, for instance. The image of a lion also served to decorate palaces, armory and, like in the present case, clothing.

The intriguing question is how this applique arrived in our museums. The most obvious origin would be local excavations. Persia certainly has still many treasures waiting to be unearthed. But I like to think that this elegant lion may well have been taken by one of Alexander’s men collecting booty all along their long way east. It could readily be included in a letter home, or it would have made a beautiful home-coming gift for the soldier’s wife or sister.

This lion head was made a century before Alexander invaded Persia and its concept was entirely new to the Macedonians or the Greeks. The troops who had seen Susa and Persepolis with their own eyes certainly would have liked to take something home to show the splendor of those faraway places.

Well, the line between booty and souvenir is very narrow, I agree. A souvenir usually is an item that we pay for, but it may as well be a pebble from a beach, or an edelweiss picked high up in the Alps. Booty clearly is spoil taken from the enemy during plunder and pillage, generally precious and expensive objects.

Whatever the origin of this applique, it has a story of its own - a story that does not immediately spring to mind from the mere display on the shelf of a museum.