Dumbarton Oaks - Criophore

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Criophore

Early Byzantine
3rd century (?)
6.8 cm x 3 cm (2 11/16 in. x 1 3/16 in.)
bone
BZ.1963.24

Not on view

Permalink: http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/35822

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Obverse

Reverse

Description

Convex object showing a young, bearded man dressed in a short tunic with sleeves, and carrying a ram on his shoulders. He leans against a tree (?) the branches of which meet over his head. Summarily carved on the back to indicate lines of drapery and the back of the ram across the man's shoulders. Legs from below the knees are missing. Possibly an applique for furniture or a funerary votive figure. Carved openwork from a cylindrical piece of bone.

Bibliography

Handbook of the Byzantine Collection, Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, DC, 1967), no. 272.

W. D. Wixom, "Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland," Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum March (1967), 88 c, fig. 54.

K. Weitzmann, Ivories and Steatites, Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Vol. III (Washington, DC, 1972), no. 3, pl. III.

A. Cutler, The Craft of Ivory: Sources, Techniques, and Uses in the Mediterranean World: A.D. 200-1400 (Washington, DC, 1985), 18, fig. 20.

Exhibition History

Dumbarton Oaks, "The Craft of Ivory," Oct. 24, 1986 - Jan. 26, 1986.

Acquisition History

Said found in Asia Minor.

Formerly in the Huseyn Koçabas Collection, Istanbul.

Purchase from George Zacos, 1963.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Byzantine Collection, Washington, D.C.