Roman Marble Lion Head Protome

Former European private collection, mounted as a fountain in the 18th century or earlier. Private Beverly Hills, California, USA collection; ex-Westreich collection, Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA and previously on display in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA, acquired on the London art market and imported into the US in 1985

This head likely belongs to a large group of lion head protomes on lenoi, or trough sarcophagi, mostly sculpted in Rome and Ostia. The lenos is similar in form to an ancient wine trough, and the lion heads may be interpreted as spouts for new wine as the grapes are pressed. As wine is often symbolic of Dionysus, the lenos may then be connected with the god's mystery rites and the hope for the renewal of life. In the 3rd century A.D., strigillated lenoi decorated with lion heads gained popularity as a less expensive alternative to figural sarcophagi, as more social and economic groups incorporated the use of sarcophagi into their burial practices. The absence of explicitly pagan imagery also permitted the re-use in early Christian contexts for many of these sarcophagi.

For two similar lions found beside the Appian Way opposite the Circus of Maxentius in Rome, see no. 39A-B in Walker, Catalogue of Roman Sarcophagi in the British Museum.