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Ivory inlay of an ostrich chick

Nubian
Classic Kerma
about 1700–1550 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, K1096

Medium/Technique Ivory
Dimensions height x width x Depth : 3.5 x 3.5 x 0.1 cm (1 3/8 x 1 3/8 x 1/16 in.)
Credit Line Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number20.1353
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsFurniture

DescriptionThis ivory inlay would have adorned a wooden fixture such as a funerary bed. It has been carved in the shape of a striding ostrich chick with raised wings. The head has broken off and is missing, while one wing has also broken off but remains. The body has been decorated with a pattern of circles bored into the surface, and the wings show notched decorations along one edge for feather pattern. A small amount of the mud used to attach the inlay still adheres to it.
For several similar inlay pieces from the same tomb see objects 20.1346-20.1353.
ProvenanceFrom Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, Southern cemetery, KX, grave K1096. March 1914: Excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Sudan.
(Accession Date: March 1, 1920)