Fragment of an Ivory Plaque: Head and Forequarters of an Animal
Unknown · Neo-Assyrian period, eighth century BC
A small fragment, under five centimetres long, keeps the head and forequarters of an animal walking right, with what may be a plant stem beside it. The museum's own record hesitates over what the creature is: a cow, a calf, or perhaps a deer, from another version of the cow and calf group or from a scene of animals in a thicket. The ear, the eye and the curve of the chest are there; the rest was broken away in antiquity. The ivory has the same warm tone and the same crisp cutting as the complete plaques nearby.
Fragments like this were recovered in the courtyard of the Building of the Ivories at Arslan Tash, the Assyrian residence at ancient Hadatu in northern Syria, during the 1928 excavations led by François Thureau-Dangin. The scatter of pieces across the building shows how the furniture had been broken up. Together the fragments allow archaeologists to estimate how many pieces of furniture the residence held. The plaque came to the Louvre in the partage of 1929.
Did You Know? Even the museum is unsure whether this is a cow, a calf or a deer; the break took away the part that would settle the question.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.