Masonry Magazine June 1987 Page. 13
BRICK LION RELIEF
NEW YORK CERAMICIST DUPLICATES THE STRIDING RELIEF
LIONS THAT ONCE GRACED THE WALLS OF ANCIENT BABYLON
In a step-by-step, painstaking and laborious process involving close to 1000 kiln tests and months of trial and error, an upstate New York ceramicist has duplicated in manner and final product the striding relief lions that once graced the walls of ancient Babylon 2600 years ago.
Each "new" lion measures approximately 8½ feet long by 3% feet high and is composed of 96 individual brick measuring 13%-inches long by 3½-inches high and 3-inches deep. To date, ten such lion reliefs have been carefully produced, in answer to demands both from masonry promotion organizations and individual masonry contracting firms for the unique direct links to the ancient roots of brick's heritage.
The replicated masterpieces are the work of Geoffrey Meek, ceramist and sculptor for Hudson Valley Clay Works, a small firm of artists and craftsmen in Gosehn, New York. Mr. Meek, who had previously performed commissions for New York City's prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as for individual art patrons such as Gloria Vanderbilt and Ralph Lauren, considered this his greatest personal and creative challenge of a career which is now in its third decade.
Stepping back a bit, the striding lion originally was part of the great processional way leading to the Temple of Marduk, located in what today is Iraq, in an area approximately 30 miles due south of Baghdad. Along a quarter-mile route a total of 120 lions, 60 on each wall lining the ceremonial approach, pointed the way to the Temple.
Ancient Babylon's ruins were discovered by archeologists in 1909, following ten years of meticulous research and digging. The lion reliefs found intact (approximately 36 out of the original 120) were shipped to museums around the world. Five, each of varying condition, ended up in the United States museums, including two in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, with the others found in Boston, Providence, and Chicago.
MASONRY-MAY/JUNE, 1987 13