Throughout the Mediterranean, hunting was considered a princely or aristocratic activity. Oliphants were signal horns associated with the hunt. This fragment comes from such a horn, and is elaborately carved with interlacing vines that form linked medallions, enclosing mythical beasts and birds, some of which have tails ending in heads or scrolls.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Fragment of an Oliphant
Date:11th–12th century
Geography:Attributed to Italy, Sicily
Medium:Ivory; carved
Dimensions:Overall: L. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm) W. 4 1/8 (10.5 cm) D. 3 9/16 in. (9 cm)
Classification:Ivories and Bone
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.219
Georges Hoentschel (French), Paris (until 1906; sold to Morgan); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), New York (1906–d. 1913; his estate 1913–17; gifted to MMA)
Bloomington. Indiana University. "Islamic Art Across the World," June 18, 1970–October 1, 1970, no. 249.
Bowie, Theodore Robert. "An Exhibition Prepared by Theodore Bowie." In Islamic Art Across the World. Vol. no. 1970/3. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Art Museum, June 17 to Oct. 1, 1970. no. 249.
Spitzer, Frederic. La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité, Moyen-âge, Renaissance. vol. 1-2. Paris, 1890–92. no. 30, p. 39, ill. pl. X.
Molinier, Emile. "Histoire générale des arts appliqués à l'industrie du Ve à la fin du XVIIIe siècle." In Les Ivoires. Paris, 1896. vol. 1, pp. 93–95, ill. 120–22, 124.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2 ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 52.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. pp. 100–1.
Longhurst, M. H. "An Eleventh Century Oliphant." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs vol. 57 (1933). p. 195.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 128.
Kühnel, Ernst, and J. & S. Goldschmidt. Die Islamische Elfenbeinskulpturen VII–XIII Jahrhundert. no. 30. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1971. no. 68, pp.16, 20–23, 57–58, 64, 67, ill. pl. LXVII.
Les Ivoires: Deuxième Partie: Antiquité, Islam, Inde, Chine, Japon, Afrique Noire, Régions Polaires, Amérique. vol. 137. Paris: Tardy, 1977. p. 128, ill. (b/w).
Shalem, Avinoam. "Islamic Objects in Historical Context." In The Oliphant. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2004. p. 63, ill. fig. 26.
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