Tau head
Staff
ca. 1650 - ca. 1670 (made)
ca. 1650 - ca. 1670 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This is a tau head and staff are made in ca. 1650-70 perhaps in Constantinople. The tau head is of ivory and formed of two reversed dragons' heads, coloured partly in red with black eyes. It is set onto a staff comprising of three parts. A closely comparable tau head is in the Iviron Monastery, of Mount Athos, which has an inscription dating it to 1662. It seems likely that the present tau head dates from about the same time. Tau heads formed the tops of crosses or staffs in the shape of a T, the Greek letter ‘tau’, hence the name.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
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Title | Tau head (named collection) |
Materials and techniques | Ivory, wood, tortoise shell, mother of pearl, silver studs and metal fittings |
Brief description | Staff, ivory, wood, mother of pearl, a tau head with the ends in the form of dragon's heads, perhaps Constantinople, ca. 1650-70 |
Physical description | Staff, eight-sided wood with small plates of Tortoise shell mother of pearl, and decorated with studs and ivory knobs. The head is in ivory, the ends in the form of dragon's heads. |
Dimensions |
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Object history | Bought for £8 from Caspar Purdon Clarke (1847-1911), who was to become Director of the South Kensington Museum (later renamed Victoria and Albert Museum) from 1896 to 1904. The tau head had been acquired in Corfu. |
Subject depicted | |
Summary | This is a tau head and staff are made in ca. 1650-70 perhaps in Constantinople. The tau head is of ivory and formed of two reversed dragons' heads, coloured partly in red with black eyes. It is set onto a staff comprising of three parts. A closely comparable tau head is in the Iviron Monastery, of Mount Athos, which has an inscription dating it to 1662. It seems likely that the present tau head dates from about the same time. Tau heads formed the tops of crosses or staffs in the shape of a T, the Greek letter ‘tau’, hence the name. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | 461:1 to 4-1877 |
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Record created | September 26, 2008 |
Record URL |
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