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Details / Information for Dragon's Head

Dragon's Head

1100–1150

Anglo-Norman?, Romanesque period, 12th century

Medium
walrus ivory
Measurements
Overall: 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Thomas P. Miller in memory of James J. Rorimer 1975.258
Public Domain
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Location
106C Medieval Treasury
Print

Description

This exceedingly rare medieval carving, which recalls the more monumental carvings on Viking ship prows, may have been a finial for a diagonal member of a folding chair. The character of the head, the stylized acanthus leaves, and the foliage-spouting mask on the neck are characteristic of north European and Anglo-Norman Romanesque styles.
A walrus ivory carving depicts a stylized dragon head facing right. It has a rounded snout and an open mouth with rectangular teeth. Deep, dark-brown grooves define its features, including a large circular eye. Below the head, a textured pattern of intersecting diagonal lines wraps around the body. The aged, yellowed material is warm in tone and marked by thin vertical cracks.

Dragon's Head

1100–1150

Anglo-Norman?, Romanesque period, 12th century

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