AN ELAMITE NEAR EASTERN LION AMULET Circa 1st Millennium B.C. Pierced lengthways for suspension the amulet is carved in black and white banded agate in the form of a recumbent lion, the short front paws outstretched, the hind quarters rounded, with large protruding eyes flank a flat broad snout beneath small rounded ears, 1.6cm long,  Literature: A small recumbent agate lion, now in the Louvre, is illustrated in Prudence O. Harper, Joan Aruz and Francoise Tallon, (Eds), 'The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in The Louvre' (New York, 1992) pp. 152-153, no. 99. Similar amulets in the form of lions are also reproduced in Debra Noel Adams, Emma C. Bunker, Trudy Kawami, Robert Morkot, Dalia Tawil, 'When Orpheus Sang' (Paris, 2004) pp. 76-77, nos. 73-74. Provenance: Private collection, Los Angeles, U.S.A., acquired circa 1979.