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Maenad with Tympanon
Byzantine, Coptic
Early Byzantine Period
4th-5th century A.D.
Place of Manufacture: Egypt, Alexandria
Medium/Technique
Bone
Dimensions
Height x width: 10.8 × 3.1 cm (4 1/4 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
John Michael Rodocanachi Fund
Accession Number57.692
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionFragment of a convex bone plaque. Standing nude female figure body turned to left, left arm bent and holding a tympanum. Many similar plaques represent maenads playing tympana as they dance. These were part of larger compositions that once adorned wooden box or a piece of wooden furniture in the household of Roman and early Byzantine Egypt. Presumed to have been made in Alexandria and demonstrating the continuation of Classical themes into the early Byzantine period.
ProvenanceBy 1905: Joseph von Kopf Collection, Rome; by 1957: with Dr. Antonio Agostini, Rome; purchased by MFA from Dr. Antonio Agostini, November 14, 1957 for $ 300- (this figure is the total price for 57.691-699)