Furniture element made from a hippopotamus incisor ca. 9th–8th century Assyrian In addition to elephant tusks, hippopotamus teeth were also carved into small decorative objects and furniture inlays. This incisor, which was probably used as a furniture element, was found in a large storeroom at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was probably used to store tribute and booty collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign. Hippopotamus ivory is whiter and more finely grained than elephant ivory. It is also harder and denser, making it more difficult to carve. Its smaller
Furniture element made from a hippopotamus incisor ca. 9th–8th century Assyrian In addition to elephant tusks, hippopotamus teeth were also carved into small decorative objects and furniture inlays. This incisor, which was probably used as a furniture element, was found in a large storeroom at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was probably used to store tribute and booty collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign. Hippopotamus ivory is whiter and more finely grained than elephant ivory. It is also harder and denser, making it more difficult to carve. Its smaller size means that there is a greater constraint on the objects into which it can be carved. The hippopotamus growth rings seen at the break in the upper tip of this incisor, called lamellae, are wavy and discontinuous and can be distinguished from the smooth growth rings of elephant tusks, making it easy to differentiate between the two types of ivory. Several elements of this incisor suggest that it was secured to a piece of wooden furniture using both mortise and tenon joinery and an adhesive. A rectangular mortise at the upper tip was cut to receive a peg, while the tapered tip was carved into a rectangular tenon, immediately behind which is a hole drilled to receive a dowel. The tapered end has been roughened with scratches, probably to help glue join the surface of the ivory to the piece of furniture into which it was originally by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, the palaces and storerooms of Nimrud housed thousands of pieces of carved ivory. Most of the ivories served as furniture inlays or small precious objects such as boxes. While some of them were carved in the same style as the large Assyrian reliefs lining the walls of the Northwest Palace, the majority of the ivories display images and styles related to the arts of North Syria and the Phoenician city-states. Phoenician style ivories are distinguished by their use of imagery related to Egyptian art
Size: 4000px × 3017px
Photo credit: © MET/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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