Furniture plaque: incised griffin

Unknown

ca. 18th century BCE · Ivory · Ancient Near Eastern Art

This fragment belongs to a group of carved ivories, mostly furniture elements, probably found at the site of a palace at Acemhöyük in central Anatolia. Incised on the small flat piece of ivory is a delicate rendering of a griffin, a mythological creature that combines the body of a lion with the wings and head of a bird of prey. The small hooked beak and facial markings indicate that this griffin has the head of a falcon. Its slender leonine body is seated with front legs extended and wings fully extended, giving the impression that the creature is poised to spring into action. Griffins of this type, with a spiral curl hanging down the neck and extended wings, are characteristic of Aegean art in later periods, such as the famous Minoan wall painting from the palace at Knossos on Crete that shows griffins flanking the royal throne. This object is the earliest known rendering of this type of griffin, suggesting that the motif was adopted by Minoan artisans after contacts with Bronze Age Anatolia.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 18th century BCE

Medium

Ivory

Culture

Old Assyrian Trading Colony

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. George D. Pratt, in memory of George D. Pratt, 1936