Pair of Belt Buckles Sakae Culture Griffin with a Lion's Body Tearing at a Horse 4th-3th century BC Gold 8 cm This pair of openwork relief plaques, mirror images of each other, were cast in relief and chased. A fantastic griffin with a lion's body is tearing at a horse. The shoulder and croup of the horse and the griffin's thigh have hollows for coloured inlays in the shape of triangles and circles. The hind quarters of both attacker and victim are twisted upside down; this device makes the composition eminently decorative, expressive and dynamic. Both the subject and the decorative device were typical of Sakae culture.