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Not currently on display at the V&A

Figure

c.3100 BC - c.2900 BC (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown (maker)
Place of origin
Egypt (made)
Giza (found)

A scene from the Old Kingdom-date tomb of Anta at another site in Egypt, Deshasha, shows a sequence of dancers holding wands or sticks topped with similar looking gazelle heads. it is possible that this fragment once belonged to a similar object, used in ritual or processional dance contexts.


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Africa
Object type
Figure
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Figure
  • Figure
Materials and techniques
Ivory
Ivory
Brief description
Fragment of a dancer's wand or figurine, ivory, Giza, Egypt, early Dynastic period, First Dynasty
Physical description
Upper part of an ivory wand or figurine, terminating in the head of a gazelle. The front is convex, the back is flat.
Dimensions
  • Height: 7cm
Style
Early Dynastic
Credit line
Given by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt
Object history
Found at Giza, tomb 23, during the 1906-7 excavation season.
Production
1st Dynasty
Subject depicted
Gazelle
Summary
A scene from the Old Kingdom-date tomb of Anta at another site in Egypt, Deshasha, shows a sequence of dancers holding wands or sticks topped with similar looking gazelle heads. it is possible that this fragment once belonged to a similar object, used in ritual or processional dance contexts.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Years 1905 - 1908. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, During the Year 1907, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition with Appendix and Indices. London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, 1909, p. 129
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part I. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1927, pp. 15, 16
  • Petrie, W.M.F., Gizeh and Rifeh (London, 1907): 5, 6, PL. IV.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
746FRAG/1, 2-1907

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Record createdFebruary 4, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O186260/figure-unknown/
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