Reflecting the shared visual language of the Mediterranean region, both fabulous beasts and ordinary animals inhabit interlocking roundels carved into this tusk of ivory. Such splendid objects often survived because they were stored in European church treasuries. This horn reportedly belonged to a Benedictine monastery in Dijon, France, and is the only surviving example to retain its original travelling case.
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Leather case (b)
Artwork Details
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Title:Horn (Oliphant) with Case
Date:horn, 11th–12th century; case, 16th century
Culture:South Italian
Medium:Ivory, silver, leather
Dimensions:Horn (a); 23 1/16 x 4 15/16 x 4 in. (58.6 x 12.5 x 10.2 cm); case (b); 22 5/8 x 5 7/8 x 5 7/16 in. (57.5 x 15 x 13.8 cm)
Classification:Miscellaneous
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Accession Number:04.3.177a, b
Henri Baudot, Dijon (until d. 1880; his estate sale, Tableaux et objets d’art et de haute curiosité composant la collection de feu M. Henri Baudot, Hôtel des ventes, Dijon, November 6–11, 1894, sold to Dino); Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (1894–1904; sold to MMA).
Waring, J. B. Art Treasures of the United Kingdom from the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester. London: Day and Son, 1858. pl. 3, no. 1 (a similar oliphant).
Me Brenot. Tableaux & Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité. Dijon: Darantiere, November 14–24, 1894. no. 310, ill.
Schlumberger, Gustave Léon. L'Épopée Byzantine à la Fin du Dixième Siècle. Vol. 1. Paris: Hachette, 1896. p. 205, ill.
Cosson, Charles Alexander. Le Cabinet d'Armes de Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino. Paris: E. Rouveyre, 1901. p. 105, pl. 20.
Dean, Bashford, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catalogue of European Arms and Armor. Hand-book (Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)), Vol. 15. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1905. p. 120, fig. 54D.
Marcy, L., and Connaisseur. "Les Arts Aux Etas-Unis." Le Connaissuer (May 25, 1907), p. 9.
Dean, Bashford. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, Including the William H. Riggs Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Gilliss Press, January 1915. p. 40, pl. XI.
Dean, Bashford. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, Including the William H. Riggs Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3rd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 1921. p. 40, pl. XI.
Kühnel, Ernst. Islamische Kleinkunst. Bibliothek für Kunst- und Antiquitätensammler. 1st ed. Berlin: R.C. Schmidt & Co., 1925. fig. 190.
Dean, Bashford, and Robert T. Nichol. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, edited by Stephen V. Grancsay. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1930. pp. 62, 66, fig. 30.
Stone, George Cameron. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. Portland, ME: Southworth Press, 1934. p. 475, fig. 600.
Stone, George Cameron. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. New York: Jack Brussel, Pub., 1961. p. 475, fig. 600.
Stone, George Cameron, and Donald J. La Rocca. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1999. p. 475, fig. 600.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd ed. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 128 (ivory oliphants from southern Italy discussed).
Kühnel, Ernst. Islamische Kleinkunst: Ein Handbuch für Sammler und Liebhaber. Bibliothek für Kunst- und Antiquitätenfreunde. 2nd ed. ed. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt & Biermann: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1963. fig. 190.
Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 45, ill.
Kühnel, Ernst, and Adolph Goldschmidt. Die Islamischen Elfenbeinskulpturen: VIII–XIII Jahrhundert. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1971. pp. 21–23, 58, 62–71, no. 67, pls. LXV, LXVI.
Ettinghausen, Richard. "Islamic Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Spring 1975), pp. 10–11, ill.
Shalem, Avinoam. The Oliphant: Islamic Objects in Historical Context. Leiden: Brill, 2004. pp. 63–64, 108, 129, pl. II, XV, fig. 58a.
Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Najat Haidar, eds. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. pp. 54, 67, 69–70, 137; no. 38; ill.
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