This is such a decorative stamp. The borders at top and bottom of the image have a gold sheen to them that doesn’t come across that well in the photo, and the body of the lion has a dark green tint that contrasts beautifully with the orange and white of the lion’s ribcage.
This is one of a 1976 set displaying designs from Corinthian vases of the 7th century BCE. Corinth is a city in southern Greece, which sits on a narrow stretch of land (the isthmus) joining mainland Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula. Corinth was a bit of a backwater until the 8th century BCE, becoming unified under the Bacchidae tribe and starting to build its commercial and spiritual importance and significant public buildings and monuments. This era of relative freedom came to an end in the 7th century BCE with the arrival of more tyrannical rule and a period of expansion under Cypselus, then a slightly softer version under his son Periander.
I’m writing this quickly so am probably mangling classical Greek history here. Feel free to read more at the link below or just look at the stamp…
Stamp of the Day 