• Cut-out ivory plaque



Cut-out ivory plaque
Cut-out ivory plaque

Cut-out ivory plaque

Ο-Ε709
Bone (Ivory)
Partially preserved
Max. Height: 5.35 cm.Max. Length: 1.1 cm.Max. Width: 0.8 cm.
Idaean Cave
Cave, Strip ε
Early Archaic period:
650-600 BC:
Gallery:
XVII
Case:
169
Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th - 4th c. BC). The Sanctuaries. From Minoan cult to the amalgamation of religious beliefs
Sacred Caves
Description
This fragment of a cut-out ivory plaque depicts a standing female figure. She is quite naturalistically rendered in the Orientalising style, with large, bulbous eyes and strongly marked nose and mouth. The delicately worked figure is particularly long and narrow. Although iconographically and stylistically influenced by similar contemporary works from Greece and the East, it also reveals the particular ivory-working skill of Cretan artisans. Based on its iconographic features, the figure probably represents the goddess known as the Mistress of Animals. In its full form, the plaque would have displayed the wings of the goddess behind her back, while her hands would have been extended forwards, holding various animals on either side. The upper part of the head and the whole back of the figure are flat and smooth, indicating that the plaque was set into some other object.
Bibliography:
Sakellarakis J., “Ανασκαφή Ιδαίου Άντρου”, Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρίας 1984, 562, fig.7, pl. 247α. Sakellarakis J.A., “The Idaean Cave Ivories”, in J. Fitton (ed), Ivory in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Period, British Museum OccPap85, London, 1992, 117, n. 49-50, pl. 20a-d and 21. Stampolidis N. Chr. - Karetsou A. (eds) Ανατολική Μεσόγειος, Κύπρος-Δωδεκάνησα-Κρήτη, 16ος-6ος αι. π.Χ., Heraklion, 1998, 272.
Author:
S. P.


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