In the break of the r. side of the lion there is seen an oblique surface which rises markedly to the proper r. The lion lies on a "base." It has a fat, massive chest and shoulders, short hind legs, with incised claws on the l. hind leg. The l. shoulder and belly are also outlined by incision. A small round elevation and break on the top of the back suggest that the tail came curving up over the r. haunch. The r. side is carefully worked but less high (H. body to ground, r. side 0.075, l. side 0.10). A bit of the r. hind leg (top of haunch or tail?) and the r. shoulder survive.

The piece cannot come from a pediment as the inner side, which would not exist or be neglected in a pedimental figure, is very well worked. The most plausible position would be as acroterion at a roof corner, as on the Cypriot sarcophagus in New York from Golgoi, ca. 500-450 B.C. (Metropolitan Museum no. 1364, Cesnola Collection). Comparable also are the Etruscan lions used on top of sarcophagus roofs. The fragment is close in style and type to a small lion in Manisa with part of the head preserved.

The general type is well known in Ionia (Gabelmann, Lowenbild, 81ff., 91, pls. 20:1-2, 21:1-2, 25, 27:1). The squat proportions and steep rise of the neck would make this piece early, unless they are due to simplification for small scale and decorative purposes. The known sarcophagi with lions dating from the late 6th and early 5th C. tend to make a date of ca. 500 B.C. more likely.

"Local" marble with very coarse crystals; weathered gray.

L. side of "base" broken; r. side surface partly gone; “base” also split off in front and back; head, forelegs, and rear end of lion lost; surface of l. hind leg split off; heavily incrusted with moss and fungus.