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Ivory inlays of tear-drops with one hole
Nubian
Classic Kerma
about 1700–1550 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, Cemetery S, K1623
Medium/Technique
Ivory
Dimensions
height x width x Depth (largest): 3.4 x 1.3 x 0.2 cm (1 5/16 x 1/2 x 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number20.1542a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsFurniture
DescriptionThis group is comprised of six of eight (two missing) dtop-shaped inlay pieces of ivory. Each is has been bored with a single hole at the center of length. They may originally have been components of rosette patterns. For similar inlay pieces from the same tomb see also object 20.1543a-d. Such inlays were often used to decorate wooden fixtures, and some of these pieces still retain traces of the mud used as an adhesive to attach them.
ProvenanceFrom Kerma, tomb K1623. February 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)
(Accession Date: March 1, 1920)