HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.

Depicting Pygmies alternating and in contest with Cranes. In ancient mythology the Pygmies were a tribe of people of unusually short stature, living at the edges of the known world, south of Egypt. They were often depicted fighting their sworn enemies: the cranes which in winter invaded their land. This finial likely surmounted a long shaft with a tripod base.