Plaque with Allegorical Relief

Description Carved from the widest part of a hippopotamus tooth, this panel was originally attached to a box or a piece of furniture. The figures have not been identified fully but may represent a river goddess in the center with, to the left, a male personification of a spring pouring water from his inverted vase. To the right, Helios, the sun god, drives his horse-drawn chariot and salutes another female deity.

Exhibitions

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947.

Provenance Jack Pierpont Morgan, New York, by purchase; Sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, March 22, 1944, no. 76; Joseph Brummer, New York, 1944, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1944, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase, 1944