Artwork Page for Decorative Plaque: Man; and Griffin in Combat

Details / Information for Decorative Plaque: Man; and Griffin in Combat

Decorative Plaque: Man; and Griffin in Combat

900–800 BCE

Phoenicia, Iraq, Nimrud

Medium
ivory
Measurements
Overall: 6.5 x 3.9 cm (2 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1968.45
Public Domain
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Location
102A Ancient Near East
Print

Description

This small plaque was executed in the Phoenician style with symmetrical compositions, elongated figural proportions, and Egyptian subjects and motifs. Examples have been found throughout the Middle East, but thousands come from Nimrud where most were excavated in the storerooms of a military arsenal built by King Shalmaneser II (858-824 bc). When the Nimrud palace was sacked in the 7th century bc, these ivories were thrown into a well, where Sir Max Mallowan (the husband of Agatha Christie) discovered them in 1951. The monumental wall relief (1943.246) was found at the same Assyrian palace at Nimrud.
A vertically oriented, fragmented ivory carving depicts a man in combat with a winged griffin. Facing our right, the man wears a short pleated garment and textured curls, lunging to press a weapon against the griffin's chest. At the left and near his feet, fan-shaped plants sprout. The cream-colored surface is marked with dark spots and heavy wear along the broken top and right edges.

Decorative Plaque: Man; and Griffin in Combat

900–800 BCE

Phoenicia, Iraq, Nimrud

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