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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1984.653
Title
Plaque with a Maenad
Classification
Plaques
Work Type
plaque
Date
c. 400-640 CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Byzantine period, Early
Culture
Byzantine
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/289325

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3620, University Study Gallery
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bone
Technique
Carved
Dimensions
max. H. 11.9 × W. 3.1 × D. 0.4 cm (4 11/16 × 1 1/4 × 3/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Charles Dikran Kelekian, New York (by 1982)], inherited by; his wife, Beatrice Kelekian, New York, (1982-1984), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1984.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. Beatrice Kelekian in memory of her husband, Charles Dikran Kelekian
Accession Year
1984
Object Number
1984.653
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Flat decorative bone plaque depicting a nude female figure, carved in low relief. The figure is likely a dancer, a common motif on late antique furnishings. Another option is that the figure is lying down; similar reclining or swimming figures are often identified as nereids or river goddesses depicted with "flying" drapery in an arc above them. If that were the case, the plaque would be oriented horizontally, rather than vertically. It likely decorated furnishings, like a box or furniture.

Publication History

  • Ioli Kalavrezou, Byzantine Women and Their World, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2003), p. 169/fig. 86

Exhibition History

  • Byzantine Women and Their World, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/25/2002 - 04/28/2003
  • 32Q: 3740 Egyptian, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/30/2018 - 05/08/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/28/2022 - 05/31/2023
  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2024 - 01/05/2025

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu