Openwork Ivory Plaque: Hindquarters of a Sphinx with Papyrus
Unknown · Neo-Assyrian period, eighth century BC
A tall openwork plaque, nearly fourteen centimetres high, keeps the rear part of a sphinx and the stalks of papyrus flowers that framed it. Openwork means the background was cut away entirely, so the figure stood free against the wood or gold behind it. Tenons at the top and bottom show how it slotted into a frame. The museum's record suggests that this sphinx formed a pair with another fragment in the same case, catalogued as AO 11477, the two creatures facing each other across a panel. The papyrus, an Egyptian plant, shows the Phoenician taste for Nile motifs.
Phoenician craftsmen worked ivory in two main techniques, solid plaques in relief and openwork panels like this, and the finest furniture combined both. This piece came from room fourteen of the Building of the Ivories at Arslan Tash, the Assyrian residence at ancient Hadatu in northern Syria, excavated in 1928 by François Thureau-Dangin's mission. The building had housed ivory beds and chairs, probably tribute or booty from the west. The plaque reached the Louvre in the partage of 1929.
Did You Know? The plaque was pierced right through, so light and gold showed between the sphinx's legs and the papyrus stems.
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