Urartu Silver Belt Plaque with Marching Lions. 8th-7th century B.C. A broad hammered silver cuirass-belt plaque, decorated in chased low-relief, the plaque divided in four horizontal registers separated by a double line, each register with a stamped figure of a marching lion with erect head and flowing mane; domed bosses to the edges and front edge with a ring; mounted on a custom-made stand. See Born, H., Seidl, U., Schutzwaffen aus Assyrien und Urartu, Sammlung Axel Guttmann IV, Mainz, 1995; Gorelik, M.V., Warriors of Eurasia, Stockport, 1995; Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003) in Russian; Çavu?o?lu, R., 'A unique Urartian belt in the Van Museum' in Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan, Band 37, Berlin, 2005, pp.365-370. 840 grams total, 24.3 cm including stand (9 1/2 in.) Collection of Fernand Adda, formed in the 1920s. Collection of Mrs Petra Schamelman, Breitenbach, Germany. Private collection of a Kensington collector. Property of a London gentleman. Accompanied by an archaeological expertise by Dr. Raffaele D’Amato and a positive metal test from an Oxford specialist. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate no.10770-178143. A similar plaque in bronze, decorated with a lion preceded by winged creatures, is visible in the Reza Hasan Museum in Istanbul. In the same museum, an armoured neck collar shows the same style of lions evident on the plaque offered here, and a shield embossed with identical lions from Armenia has been published by Gorelik (2003, col.pl.16), which also presents a reconstruction of the fastening system of such belts (2003, pl.LIX no.1). The great dimensions of these belts suggests that they served as effective body protection for noble Urartian warriors, in combination with shields and helmets. The Urartian army consisted of infantry, outstanding cavalry and powerful war chariot units. The Urartian soldiers depicted on the Urartian belts always wear conical helmets, and the crew of the war chariots is usually composed of two warriors- the archer in lamellar armour, and the driver (Çavu?o?lu, 2005, fig.2). In combat, Urartian soldiers wore armour made either of tied bronze plaques or of iron scales sewn onto a soft base, broad chased belts, tall bronze or iron helmets, breastplates or pectorals. The offensive weapons were arrows, maces, bronze battle-axes, stone and clay balls for slings.