Ward, I agree - it is rather unusual creature. Resonates with another cartouche we discussed earlier, which was determined to be a lion depiction of bad quality (Even though I still think it'a a dog every time I look at it, mainly because it has no paws and the ears are pointing up! see pic below). A lion is usually depicted with
large paws, or at least in a way one can see them as being "lion paws" and the
ears pointing down, just as on HUSAR's sword above, as well as on both lions in Oliver's article.
Have anyone seen a cartouche depicting a lion without well-defined paws and ears being pointing down to the side?
P.S. It just struck me. Can it be a cat? Cats are much more favorable in Middle East, especially in Syria (and of-course in Egypt:-) than dogs. Since the charger was made in Syria for Persian market - can it be a Persian cat?
Look - paws are not defined and ears are pointing up!!!
Going even further - is it possible that someone would put a cat in the sword cartouche? Sorry, I am going too far with this... I promise not to mention cows and goats
