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Spoon with figure

ca. 1490–1530
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 341
Ivory spoons from present-day Sierra Leone feature prominently in Portuguese trade inventories from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Carefully carved, with virtually translucent bowls and delicate handles, such miniatures were designed primarily for display. This is one of fewer than a dozen fragile creations known to have survived in documented collections. The carver played with repetition of form by mirroring the oblong head and slender torso of the figure in the shapes of the spoon’s bowl and handle.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Spoon with figure
  • Artist: Temne or Bullom artist(s)
  • Date: ca. 1490–1530
  • Geography: Sierra Leone
  • Culture: Temne or Bullom
  • Medium: Ivory
  • Dimensions: H. 3/4 x W. 1 11/16 x D. 8 7/8 in. (1.9 x 4.3 x 22.6 cm)
  • Classification: Bone/Ivory-Implements
  • Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
  • Object Number: 1979.206.116
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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Temne or Bullom artist(s)
ca. 1490–1530
Oliphant (side-blown horn), Temne or Bullom artist(s), Ivory, Temne or Bullom
Oliphant (side-blown horn)
Temne or Bullom artist(s)
ca. 1490–1530

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