It appears across multiple media — gold, silver, bronze, felt, wool, leather — and in multiple contexts, from tiny personal ornaments to the large decorative panels that hung in elite living spaces.

The core of the animal style is the representation of animals — real and imaginary — in dynamic, often contorted postures that emphasize movement, power, and energy.

A deer in full leap, body curled in a C-shape.

A predator attacking prey, the bodies intertwined.

A fantastic hybrid creature with elements of multiple animals combined into a single form.

These images are not simply decorative.

They reflect a specific worldview: a world in which animals are powerful spiritual presences, in which the boundaries between species — and between the natural and supernatural — are permeable, in which certain creatures are associated with specific cosmic forces or spiritual qualities.