Animal Style (Persian style)

Refers to a distinctive artistic tradition in portable objects that was first developed by the Scythian nomads north of the Caucasus during the sixth century BCE. It was spread by mounted nomads throughout Europe and northern Asia, across the steppes from Hungary to the Gobi desert and beyond, through the eighth century. The style is characterized by frequent use of precious materials, modeling techniques that imitate wood carving, including beveling, great intensity and vitality, and a common motif of stylized real or mythological animals, often in bent or contorted positions.