Creative Commons License
Handle with Land and Water Birds
This handle of a knife or other implement is decorated with deeply incised birds. Four appear on each side: on the convex front, a duck, a swallow, and two wading birds; on the flat back, two songbirds, a grouse, and a duck. They are divided by highly stylized plants, including papyrus. The top is incised with a star.
The handle, stained brown, is drilled for a circular tang, and has a large chip at the opening. It has been broken in half and repaired.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1989 | The Carver's Art: Medieval Sculpture in Ivory, Bone and Horn. Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. |
Geographies
Egypt (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 4 1/16 in. (10.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.603