Bronze Foot in the Form of a Sphinx in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Bronze foot in the form of a sphinx
Greek, ca. 600 BC

Accession # 2000.660

Between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, elaborate bronze vessels were among the the preeminent creations of Greek artists. This foot was probably one of three supporting an extremely large, shallow basin. Mythological creatures such as the sphinx here and the griffin (1972.118.54) nearby should be understood as guardian figures and not simply decoration.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.