Richard Huber - Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures: 1,087 Renderings from Historic Sources

1,087 Renderings from Historic Sources

by
Richard Huber

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC. NEW YORK

Richard Huber has combed many sources to assemble the images that follow, most of them coming from the dark side of mans imagination. Some of these creatures are the product of mythology, legend or religion and appear in a variety of interpretations: the Chimera, the Sphinx, Satan, dragons and mermaids. Others are the creations of individual imaginations, and appear only once: the bizarre concoctions of Hieronymus Bosch or Salvador Dali. The selection spans time and culture, from prehistoric rock paintings to Max Ernst, from the masks of black Africa to the gargoyles of Notre Dame. All have been rendered faithfully in crisp black-and-white illustrations that lend themselves to use as spot illustrations or simply as a source of inspiration to designers and craftsmen.

Copyright 1981 by Richard Huber.

All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions.

Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures: 1,087 Renderings from Historic Sources is a new work, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 1981.

DOVER Pietorial Archive SERIES

This book belongs to the Dover Pictorial Archive Series. You may use the designs and illustrations for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project. (For permission for additional use, please write to Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501.)

However, republication or reproduction of any illustration by any other graphic service whether it be in a book or in any other design resource is strictly prohibited.

International Standard Book Number: 0-486-24174-2

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 81-67036

Manufactured in the United States of America
Dover Publications, Inc.
31 East 2nd Street
Mineola, N.Y. 11501

Plate 1. ANCIENT EGYPT. 1. Thoth, from a tomb painting at Thebes. 2. Humanized buffalo head, Palette of King Namer, Hierakonpolis, ca. 3100 B.C. 3. Sphinx, from a papyrus. 4. Bai, or soul-bird, from a Book of the Dead. 5. Composite creature, from a papyrus. 6. Ra-Horakhte, from a painting at Thebes, 800 B.C. 7. Bai, or soul-bird, from a papyrus. 8. Three gods, from a papyrus. 9. Fish-tailed goat, zodiac figure from a sarcophagus, Thebes.

Plate 2. ANCIENT EGYPT. 1. From Karnak. 2. Bai, or soul-bird, from a wall painting, 13th century B.C. 3. Nehebka. 4. Anubis, from a papyrus. 5. Osiris. 6. Uraeus, from the tomb of Amenhotep II. 7. Centaur, from a sarcophagus, 2nd century A.D.

Plate 3. ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST. 1. The demon Pazuzu, from a Mesopota-mian bronze amulet, 9th7th centuries B.C. 2. Assyrian winged lion with human head, from the palace of Assurnasirpal, 885-860 B.C. 3. Dagon, from an Assyrian bas-relief. 4. Female demon, from a Mesopotamian clay relief. 5. Dragon of Babel, from a tile relief, the Ishtar Gate, Babylon, 6th century B.C. 6. The goddess Tiamat, from a relief carving at the Temple of Enurta at Nimrud, Assyria.

Plate 4. ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST. 1. Humanized ox, from an inlay on the soundboard of a harp, Ur, ca. 2600 B.C. 2. Winged lion with human head, Hittite bas-relief, Carchemish. 3. Head with ox horns, Persia, 2nd millennium B.C. 4. Scorpion-archer, symbol of the god Ishkhara, from a boundary stone, Babylon, ca. 1140 B.C. 5. Humanized scorpion, from an inlay on the soundboard of a harp, Ur, ca. 2600 B.C. 6. The storm god Zu in the form of a bird, from an Assyrian cylinder seal, 2340-2180 B.C. 7. Eagle-headed being, from a Hittite bas-relief, Carchemish. 8. Harpy-like demoness, from a Sumerian bas-relief.

Plate 5. ANCIENT GREECE. 1. The river god Achelous, from a vase. 2. Terracotta grotesque head. 3. Siren, from a vase, 5th century B.C. 4. Gorgon, from a Proto-Attic amphora, ca. 675-650 B.C. 5. Minotaur, from a cup.

Plate 6. ANCIENT GREECE. 1. The Gorgon Medusa, from a vase, 6th century B.C. 2. Harpy, from an amphora, 6th century B.C. 3. The Sphinx, from a cup. 4. Cerberus, from an amphora, ca. 510 B.C. 5. Griffin, from a fresco in the throne room of Minos, Crete, 2100-1600 B.C. 6. Pegasus, from a cup.

Plate 7. ANCIENT GREECE. 1. Winged lion, Thera, 7th century B.C. 2. The Centaur Nessos, from an Attic amphora, 7th century B.C. 3. Panther-bird, from a Corinthian amphora, 650 B.C. 4. The Minotaur, from a Corinthian amphora, 5th century B.C. 5. Harpy, from an amphora.

Plate 8. ANCIENT GREECE AND SCYTHIA. 1. Winged lion with rams horns and serpents tail, Scythian gold of Greek manufacture. 2. Harpy, from a cup. 3. Winged youth, from a vase. 4. Griffin, Scythian gold of Greek manufacture. Greek manufacture. 5. Satyr, from an amphora from Nola. 6. Sea serpent, Scythian gold pendant of Greek manufacture. 7. Winged boar, from a cup. 8. Griffin, Scythian gold of9. Winged man, from a vase. 10. Hydra, from a vase.

Plate 9. ANCIENT ITALY. 1. Sea horse, from a Roman amphora, 4th century B.C. 2. Sphinx, from a wall painting in a tomb at La Banditaccia, ca. 700-475 B.C. 3. The head of Medusa, from a Roman cameo. 4. Chimera, from an Etruscan bronze, 5th century B.C. 5. Satyrs head, from a Roman goblet. 6. Winged lion with rams horns, Etruscan, second half of the 6th century B.C. 7. Satyrs head, painted terra-cotta Etruscan roof ornament, ca. 5th century B.C.

Plate 10. THE VIKINGS (all dates A.D.). 1. Dragons head, from the Oseberg ship-burial, ca. 825. 2. Thor, from one of the horns of Gallehus, ca. 1000. 3. Demons face, from a bronze decoration. 4. Dragon, from a carving at Sanda, Gotland, 500. 5. Monsters head from the prow of a ship, ca. 8th century. 6. Griffin, from a wood sculpture. 7. Dragons head, from a ship. 8. Horned human head, gilded wood.