Panel with Wheat Sheaves

Unknown

4th–6th century · Bone · Medieval Art

This panel, made from either bone or ivory, is carved in low relief with an almost symmetrical vegetal composition surrounded by a narrow frame. The bifurcated central stalk of this palmate form, long identified as a wheat-sheave, begins just above the center of the panel's lower margin. On either side of the base of the stalk sprouts pairs of leaves, and a dominant pair of fronds sprout directly from the bifurcated central stem and culminate in elongated leaves that extend to the upper corners of the frame. In late antique Egypt and throughout the Mediterranean regions of the late Roman Empire, bone and ivory panels like this decorated domestic furnishings, including couches, tables, and boxes.

Artist

Unknown

Date

4th–6th century

Medium

Bone

Culture

Late Roman/Early Byzantine

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020