Decorative Element with Dolphins and Shell

Description Dolphins flank a seashell, their eyes and mouths exaggerated by the bone carver. The object is intact but was never meant to function by itself. The hollow of the bone runs lengthwise with openings at each end; in addition, openings have been cut at the two low points of the upper side, probably to accomodate metal rods, perhaps of bronze, which would account for the green-stained surface of the object.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
8/18/1982	Treatment	cleaned

Provenance William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters