May 5 , 1945

Professor James Wilson Allan (born 5 May 1945) is Professor of Eastern Art, at the University of Oxford, a title he now holds in an Emeritus capacity. ; he was also associated with the Ashmolean museum until 2006. He authored multiple texts including Nishapur: Metalwork of the Early Islamic Period (1982). I link to this book not just because there are several lion references, including a drawing of an incense burner with a leonine shape, but, you can read the entire text at books.google.com. Use my link to make sure you get the right edition. 

Allan's family includes four children. He lists his hobbies in his Who's Who article,  as music, ornithology, walking, travel.

The UK edition of Who's Who mentions these texts in his profile:

Medieval Middle Eastern Pottery, 1971; 

Persian Metal Technology 700–1300 AD, 1978; 

Islamic Metalwork: the Nuhad Es-Said Collection, 1982; 

Metalwork of the Islamic World: the Aron Collection, 1986; 

(edited) Creswell: A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture, 1989; 

co-authored, Persian Steel: the Tanavoli Collection, 2000; 

The Art and Architecture of Twelver Shi’ism: Iraq, Iran and the Indian Sub-Continent, 2012