deem-data/ArtiFact huggingface dataset:
Pacoima Dam in aanbouw
Object type: photograph
Date: 1928 – 1928
Materials: photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: los angeles
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: machines; parts of machines; tools and appliances, dam (in canal), mountains
Inscriptions: annotation: ‘Pacoima dam’
Portret van Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
Object type: history print
Date: 1600 – 1699
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: historical persons - bb - woman

Prent met andere foliëring gebruikt in: Pers, Dick Pietersz. De verwarde adelaar, en ontstelde leeuw: waer in de spring-ader der beroerten (...). Amsterdam: Dirck Pietersz. Pers, 1647.
Allegorische voorstellingen van Europese landen
Object type: print
Date: 1588 – 1595
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Location: cologne
Subjects: army 'en route', (story of) ceres (demeter), (story of) bacchus (dionysus), liber, personifications of countries, nations, states, districts, etc., farmers, pavement, terrace in front of inn or restaurant, celebration meal, feast, banquet, germany
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 1855a, collector's mark: Lugt 2228, collector's mark: Lugt 700a

Een allegorie op Duitsland. In het midden onder een boom de goden Ceres (landbouw) en Bacchus (wijn). Ceres houdt een scepter in de handen. Op haar schoot de Duitse keizerskroon. Bacchus heeft de rijksappel en een wijnrank vast. Rondom hen op de grond liggen wapentuig en landbouwwerktuigen. Achter hen een drukpers. Op de achtergrond rechts feestende boeren, links een leger. De prent maakt deel uit van een vierdelige serie met allegorische voorstellingen van Europese landen.
Karel II, koning van Spanje, rekenpenning geslagen op last van de raad van Financiën
Object type: jeton
Date: 1668 – 1668
Materials: copper
Techniques: striking
Location: antwerp
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: karel ii (koning van spanje)

Koperen penning. Voorzijde: borststuk man met kroon binnen omschrift. Keerzijde: gekroond wapenschild, omhangen met de orde van het Gulden Vlies binnen omschrift
Portret van een staande vrouw
Object type: photograph
Date: 1855 – 1880
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: albumen print
Location: paris
Subjects: historical persons - bb - woman
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘Photographie/ de/ La Presse Artistique/ 123, rue Montmartre, 123/ Paris’
Figuur in de branding
Object type: sketchbook leaf
Date: 1920 – 1920
Materials: chalk, paper
Techniques: stumping
Location: south holland
Artist: johan antonie de jonge
Artist role: draughtsman
Artist dates: 1864 – 1927
Subjects: sea (seascape) (+ landscape with figures, staffage)

Figuur in de branding. Blad 21 recto uit een schetsboek met 21 bladen.
Kade van Falmouth
Object type: drawing
Date: 1706 – 1778
Materials: paper, pencil, watercolor
Techniques: brush
Location: falmouth
Artist: jan brandes
Artist role: draughtsman
Artist dates: 1743 – 1808
Subjects: harbour, prospect of village, silhouette of village, rowing-boat, canoe, etc., coast
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘The kai af Falmouth<BR />De kaay van Falmouth aan de falmouthsche zyde.’

Kleurtekening van een kade met huizen en glooiend oplopende groene kust. De tekening is gemaakt vanaf de voor anker liggende Oostindiëvaarder 'Holland'. Een sloep vaart mensen naar de wal. Met opschrift. Onderdeel uit het schetsboek van Jan Brandes, dl. 2 (1808), p. 71.
Terras van een café-restaurant, met tekenende kunstenaar
Object type: drawing
Date: 1889 – 1889
Materials: chalk, paper
Artist: johan braakensiek
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker
Artist dates: 1858 – 1940
Subjects: inn, coffee-house, public house, etc., draughtsman at work
Fragment of a Stela of Neferhotep
Object type: architectural fragment
Materials: limestone, pigment, stone
Techniques: painting, relief
Culture: egyptian
Location: egypt
Subjects: portraits, praying, hieroglyphs, men

The hieroglyphs at the top of this stela (commemorative stone) fragment help identify the man depicted as Neferhotep, a foreman of the workers who built and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Neferhotep, who is finely dressed in pleated white garments, raises his hands before him in a gesture of adoration toward the deity, who would have been depicted in the upper portion of the stone. Stelae such as this one allowed nonroyal Egyptians to demonstrate their devotion to the gods.
Jan Six
Object type: print
Date: 1733 – 1797
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Subjects: mayor, jan six (1618-1700), historical persons
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228, collector's mark: Lugt 2760
Portret van Simon Grunaeus op 62-jarige leeftijd
Object type: print
Date: 1625 – 1625
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Artist: lucas kilian
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker
Artist dates: 1579 – 1637
Subjects: theologian, historical persons
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Tekst in het Latijn in de omlijsting. Twee emblemen in de marge.
Ewer
Object type: ewer
Date: 1167 – 1233
Materials: stonepaste
Techniques: glazing, luster painting
Location: iran
Orvieto. Facciata della Cattedrale. La Creazione dell'Uomo e della Donna
Object type: ansichtkaart, prentbriefkaart
Date: 1910 – 1930
Materials: cardboard
Techniques: photograph
Location: terni
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: church (exterior), sculpture
Inscriptions: collector's mark: ‘AFE v S’
Gezicht op de begraafplaats Campo Santo in Genua
Object type: page
Date: 1880 – 1880
Materials: paper
Techniques: photograph
Location: genoa
Subjects: churchyard, cemetery
Deel van een portaal van de Dom van Florence
Object type: photograph
Date: 1870 – 1875
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: albumen print
Location: florence
Subjects: parts of church exterior and annexes: portal, column, pillar ~ architecture, art (+ mosaic making), beasts of prey, predatory animals: lion
Inscriptions: number: ‘3571.’, collector's mark: Lugt 3937
Isabel Wachenheimer
Object type: photograph
Date: 1947 – 1955
Materials: photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: leiden, isabel wachenheimer-elon, historical persons - bb - woman

Portret van Isabel Wachenheimer, staande in de deur van een auto of bus. Waarschijnlijk ten tijde van haar werk bij de KLM in Tel Aviv. Losse foto in het album half formaat, kunstlederen omslag met koordbinding.
Fragmenten mes uit het wrak van de Oost-Indiëvaarder Hollandia
Object type: knife tool
Date: 1700 – 1743
Materials: silver
Location: netherlands
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: verenigde oostindische compagnie, hollandia (schip), annet

Cutlery, knive; fragm, id. NG 1980-27H733, with id. coat of arms.
Landschap met bomen en een stadsgezicht
Object type: sketchbook leaf
Date: 1892 – 1913
Materials: chalk, paper
Artist: a.a.l. de grammont-hubrecht
Artist role: draughtsman, painter, print maker
Artist dates: 1855 – 1913
Subjects: city-view, and landscape with man-made constructions, trees, church (exterior)

Blad 27 verso uit een schetsboek met 31 bladen.
Interieur van de Sint-Janskerk te Hoensbroek
Object type: photograph
Date: 1910 – 1910
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: collodion silver print
Location: hoensbroek
Artist: anoniem (monumentenzorg)
Artist role: fotograaf
Subjects: interior of church
Inscriptions: annotation: ‘Hoensbroek R.K. Kerk/ oct: 1910’
Montecassino. Il Crocifisso et Santi.Benedetto. (Sc. Beur.) Affresco nella Cappella Superiore del S.P. Benedetto
Object type: photomechanical print
Date: 1906 – 1910
Materials: cardboard
Techniques: photograph
Location: terni
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: interior of church, picture, painting
Soldaten en edelmannen
Object type: print
Date: 1615 – 1638
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Artist: rudolph meyer
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1605 – 1638
Subjects: helved weapons, polearms (for striking, hacking, thrusting): pike, armour, hacking and thrusting weapons: sword, the soldier; the soldier's life
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228, collector's mark: Lugt 2233

Onderdeel van een serie van zestien voorstellingen van soldaten (Soldatenbüchli).
Saddle and Bridle
Object type: saddle and bridle
Date: 1801 – 1900
Materials: cord, enamel, leather, silver, textile, wood
Culture: korean or mongol
Location: korea
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Object type: kylix fragment
Date: 460 – 440
Materials: terracotta
Culture: greek, attic

Interior, unidentified subject; Exterior, part of handle palmette and tendril
Kleermaker met bontmantel
Object type: print
Date: 1714 – 1714
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Location: haarlem
Artist: vincent laurensz. van der vinne (ii)
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker
Artist dates: 1686 – 1742
Subjects: furrier (+ variant), coat (+ men's clothes), tailor, dressmaker
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 240

Prent oorspronkelijk bedoeld als boekillustratie voor: Spinniker, Adriaan. Leerzaame zinnebeelden. Haarlem: [boekverkoper] Isaak van der Vinne (I) en Amsterdam: [drukker] Johannes Krelius, 1714. Later gebruikt als boekillustratie in: Spinniker, Adriaan. Vervolg der leerzaame zinnebeelden, : spiegel der boetvaardigheid en genade en eenige Stichtelyke gezangen. Haarlem: Jan Bosch, 1758.
An apostle seen from behind and turning to the right, holding an open book, in an oval frame, from "Christ, the Virgin, and Thirteen Apostles"
Object type: print
Date: 1600 – 1640
Materials: ink
Techniques: etching, pen
Artist: anonymous, 17th century
Artist role: artist
Artist dates: 1600 – 1700
Subjects: apostles

From Christ, the Virgin and Thirteen Apostles, a series of fifteen busts in oval frames printed from one plate, after Reni. Brown ink drawn around the outer border of the sheet.
Portretten van twee courtisanes
Object type: costume print
Date: 1635 – 1635
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving, letterpress printing
Location: unknown
Artist: crispijn van de passe (ii)
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker
Artist dates: 1594 – 1670
Subjects: whore, prostitute - cc - male prostitution
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Portretten van twee courtisanes die gekleed zijn volgens de mode van hun tijd. In de bovenhoeken genummerd: 9 en 10.
Brief aan Philip Zilcken
Object type: letter
Materials: ink, paper
Techniques: pen, writing
Location: puyricard
Artist: eugénie clapier-houchart
Artist role: dichter
Subjects: maria biermé, the hague, draughtsman, philip zilcken, literature ~ arts, money
Inscriptions: seal, collector's mark: ‘RPK’
Gold pin with bud finial
Object type: pin with bud finial
Date: 500 – 468
Materials: gold
Culture: etruscan

Pin with bud finial from a tomb group allegedly from Vulci, one of the richest and most impressive sets of Etruscan jewelry ever found.
Begraafplaats Duitse militairen
Object type: photograph
Materials: photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: rotterdam
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: churchyard, cemetery, occupation ~ war, grave, tomb and other grave-forms and grave-markers, rotterdam

Een begraafplaats met Duitse militairen, Crooswijk. Een wit kruis met naam, geboortedatum en sterfdatum: 10.5.1940
Vrouw met parasol in bos of park in Nederlands-Indië
Object type: photograph
Date: 1890 – 1920
Materials: paper, cardboard
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: dutch east indies
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: park, trees, forest, wood, parasol, sunshade, dutch east indies, the
Inscriptions: number: ‘No 15’
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Object type: kylix fragment
Date: 467 – 435
Materials: terracotta
Culture: greek, attic

Exterior, bit of circumscribed palmette; neck, right shoulder and arm, bent at elbow, and part of upper torso of male
Edward Corrigan, from the Racing Colors of the World series (N22a) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
Object type: print
Date: 1888 – 1888
Techniques: color lithograph
Artist: allen & ginter
Artist role: publisher
Artist nationality: american
Subjects: men,jockeys

Trade cards from the "Racing Colors of the World" series (N22a), issued in 1888 in a set of 50 cards to promote Allen & Ginter brand cigarettes. The series was published in two variations. N22a includes a white edge around the perimeter of each card and N22b does not.
Fragment of a Bottle
Object type: fragment
Date: 701 – 900
Materials: glass
Techniques: glassblowing, tooling
Location: iraq

This glass fragment was excavated in Ctesiphon, the Sasanian metropolis and administrative capital conquered by Arab Muslim armies in 637. The city continued to be inhabited throughout the era, when it was known in Arabic as al-Mada’in, or "the cities", because of the expansive area it encompassed. Arab and Persian historians and poets indulged in describing al-Mada’in/Ctesiphon’s grand monuments. Muslim rulers also celebrated the glory of these monuments, which through time had acquired symbolic significance due to their association with the city’s imperial past. This was the case of the Taq-i Kisra, an impressive colossal ivan (a vaulted hall with one side open) that was partially dismantled to reuse its bricks in caliphal buildings in the new capital of Baghdad. Finds like this fragment attest to the continued occupation of Ctesiphon’s urban area in the first centuries of the Islamic period, during which a pilgrimage site developed at Salman Pak, an area named after the tomb of Salman al-Farsi, one of the early companions of the Prophet and the first Iranian to convert to Islam. The site is still visited by pilgrims today. Excavations in the Ctesiphon area were undertaken by an expedition in 1928–29 sponsored by the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft). The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, undertook a joint expedition for one season in 1931–32. Several excavations were conducted, including at the Taq-i Kisra, in a small, fortified area south of the palace at Tell Dheheb, at multiple houses at the mounds of Ma’aridh, and at additional houses at a small mound called Umm ez-Za’tir. According to the agreements, the finds were first divided with the Iraqi authorities, between Berlin and New York.
Soldaat die vonken wegblaast van de pan van zijn musket
Object type: drawing
Date: 1750 – 1900
Materials: chalk, paper
Location: northern netherlands
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: manoeuvre ~ military training, handling of weapons ~ military training, firearms: rifle, (military) uniforms
The Transfiguration, from The Fall and Redemption of Man
Object type: print
Date: 1513 – 1513
Materials: paper
Techniques: woodcut
Location: germany
Artist: albrecht altdorfer
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: german
Artist dates: 1480 – 1538
Stela fragment
Object type: stela fragment
Date: 2100 – 2090
Materials: limestone
Location: egypt
Gezicht op de ruïne van een gebouw
Object type: print
Date: 1852 – 1890
Materials: paper
Techniques: drypoint, etching, intaglio
Artist: willem linnig (ii)
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1842 – 1890
Subjects: ruin of a dwelling, house, castle, etc.
Rivaulx Abbey.  Interior of the Choir
Object type: photograph
Date: 1850 – 1859
Techniques: albumen silver print
Artist: joseph cundall
Artist role: fotograaf, schrijver
Artist nationality: british
Artist dates: 1818 – 1895
Subjects: abbeys
Studie, vermoedelijk ruiters
Object type: sketchbook leaf
Date: 1848 – 1888
Materials: chalk, paper
Artist: anton mauve
Artist role: draughtsman, painter, print maker
Artist dates: 1838 – 1888
Subjects: riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horseman

Blad 21 recto uit een schetsboek met 42 bladen.
Watermolen in bos
Object type: print
Date: 1810 – 1830
Materials: paper
Techniques: lithograph
Location: amsterdam
Artist: françois joseph pfeiffer (ii)
Artist role: draughtsman, print maker
Artist dates: 1778 – 1835
Subjects: watermill in landscape
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2760, collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Watermolen omgeven door bomen. Links op een pad loopt een man met plunjezak.
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren te Amersfoort
Object type: sketchbook leaf
Date: 1862 – 1867
Materials: paper, pencil, watercolor
Techniques: brush
Location: amersfoort
Artist: isaac gosschalk
Artist role: draughtsman
Artist dates: 1838 – 1907
Subjects: parts of church exterior and annexes: façade, parts of church exterior and annexes: spire
Inscriptions: annotation: ‘O.L. vr toren/ plomp geve[...]sta[...]’

Tevens een deel van de gevel van de kerk. Blad 18 recto uit een schetsboek met 58 bladen.
Christus met doornenkroon
Object type: print
Date: 1876 – 1909
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching, intaglio
Subjects: head of christ with crown of thorns
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228
Sumatra
Object type: print
Date: 1847 – 1847
Materials: paper
Techniques: lithograph
Location: amsterdam
Subjects: sailing-ship, sailing-boat, coast
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228
Café Bauer, Unter den Linden, Berlijn
Object type: photograph
Date: 1880 – 1900
Materials: cardboard, photographic support
Techniques: albumen print
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: unter den linden
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘Berlin’, number: ‘24989’
Man en vrouw hangen een vrouw op aan een nepgalg
Object type: photograph
Date: 1925 – 1950
Materials: paper
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: naarden
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: instruments of torture, execution or punishment: gallows, adult man, adult woman (+ two persons), parts of church exterior and annexes: tower
Inscriptions: inscription: ‘AO’, number: ‘2127’

Portret van een man en een vrouw die een andere vrouw ophangen aan een nepgalg. Op de achtergrond is de kerktoren van Naarden te zien.
De wijn is een spotter
Object type: print
Date: 1723 – 1789
Materials: paper
Techniques: mezzotint
Location: dordrecht
Artist: jacob hoolaart
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1713 – 1789
Subjects: proverbs, sayings, etc., candle, drunkenness, chamber-pot, 'wine is a mocker ...' ~ drunken brawl
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Een nar-achtige figuur staat op het punt om een slapende vrouw een pispot op het hoofd te zetten. Hij steekt zijn tong uit. Op de tafel, waar de vrouw haar hoofd op te rusten heeft gelegd, ligt een omgevallen wijnglas. Op de deur van het venster zit een uil.
Self-portrait etching at a window
Object type: print
Date: 1648 – 1648
Materials: paper
Techniques: drypoint, etching
Artist: rembrandt van rijn
Artist role: draughtsman, painter, print maker
Artist dates: 1606 – 1669
Subjects: leiden, amsterdam, painter, print maker, draughtsman, rembrandt van rijn
Inscriptions: signature and date: ‘Rembrandt f. 1648’
Cinquième Volume, Recueil élémentaire d'architecture (...)
Object type: print
Date: 1763 – 1763
Materials: paper
Techniques: etching
Location: paris
Artist: jean françois de neufforge
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1714 – 1791
Subjects: bookshelves
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228

Een geornamenteerde boekenkast met op de onderste deuren medaillons met portretten en guirlandes. Boven de kast een paneel met figuren rondom een globe, geflankeerd door beelden van staande figuren. Prentnummer 300.
Scarabs Inscribed for the God's Wife Neferure
Object type: scarab
Date: 1479 – 1458
Materials: stone
Techniques: glazing
Location: egypt
Subjects: scarabs
Brand in 's Lands Zeemagazijn, 1791
Object type: print
Date: 1800 – 1800
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving, etching
Location: amsterdam
Subjects: on fire, ablaze

Gebruikt als illustratie in: P.A. Loosjes. Vaderlandsche historie, vervattende de geschiedenissen, der Vereenigde Nederlanden (...). Ten onmiddelyken vervolge van Wagenaar's Vaderlandsche historie. Amsterdam: Johannes Allart, dl. 24 (1800).
Portret van Hermann Arnold, Freiherr von Wachtendonck
Object type: print
Date: 1715 – 1777
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Subjects: historical persons, armorial bearing, heraldry
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228
Apron
Object type: apron
Date: 1601 – 1633
Materials: linen
Culture: italian
Militair muziekcorps op de fiets
Object type: photograph
Date: 1925 – 1935
Materials: photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Location: netherlands
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: musical instruments; group of musical instruments, making music; musician with instrument, bicycle
Inscriptions: name: ‘Uitg. KEllerman Rotterdam’
Gezicht op het verwoeste Viaduc d'Auteuil in Parijs na de semaine sanglante
Object type: page
Date: 1871 – 1871
Materials: paper
Techniques: albumen print
Location: paris
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: ruin of a building ~ architecture
Mezzetin
Object type: painting
Date: 1718 – 1720
Materials: canvas, oil
Artist: antoine watteau
Artist role: artist
Artist nationality: french
Artist dates: 1684 – 1721
Subjects: men,music,guitars,actors
Christian I von Anhalt-Bernburg
Object type: print
Date: 1680 – 1733
Materials: paper
Techniques: engraving
Location: leipzig
Artist: martin bernigeroth
Artist role: print maker
Artist dates: 1670 – 1733
Subjects: armour, historical persons
Inscriptions: collector's mark: Lugt 2228
War Captain, Nambe, from the American Indian Chiefs series (N2) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
Object type: print
Date: 1888 – 1888
Techniques: color lithograph
Artist: allen & ginter
Artist role: publisher
Artist nationality: american
Subjects: men,portraits

Trade cards from the "American Indian Chiefs" series (N2), issued in 1888 in a series of 50 cards to promote Allen & Ginter Brand Cigarettes.
Cup and Cover
Object type: cup with cover
Date: 0 – 1893
Materials: porcelain
Culture: japanese
Subjects: flowers
Triangular prism with three oval seal faces
Object type: stamp seal
Date: 1800 – 1701
Materials: mineral, stone
Culture: minoan
Location: crete
Armchair (one of a pair)
Object type: armchair
Date: 1760 – 1760
Materials: wood
[Queens Proclamation, Government House, Calcutta, November 1858]
Object type: photograph
Date: 1858 – 1858
Techniques: albumen silver print
Artist: Anonymous
Artist role: artist
Subjects: buildings,crowd
Clara Seaburg, Phil Lilienthal, Jane Herrmann en Dick Dorsen op het dek van een schip
Object type: photograph
Date: 1928 – 1928
Materials: photographic support
Techniques: gelatin silver print
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: adolescent, young woman, maiden, adult woman, historical persons, youth, adolescent
Inscriptions: annotation: ‘Clara Seaburg, Jane, Dick Dorsen/ Phil Lilienthal’
Plate with the arms of the De Jonge family
Object type: plate dish
Date: 1730 – 1740
Materials: glaze, gold, paint, porcelain
Techniques: firing, gilding, turning, vitrification
Location: china
Artist: Anonymous
Subjects: batavia

In het plat het wapen van de familie de Jonge verdeeld in vier vlakken in de emailkleuren ijzerrood, blauw en goud. Het wapen wordt ondersteund door een leeuw en een griffioen op een groene ondergrond. Het helmteken is een zwarte zwaan en een dekkleed van bladranken. Op de wand een band van bloemranken en (vroege) spearheads of bloemknoppen en op de achterzijde van het bord vlinders en pioenen. Op de rand vier bloemtakken met andere objecten.
Cosmetic box fragment carved in relief with the head of a sphinx
Object type: cosmetic container
Date: 900 – 801
Materials: gold foil, ivory
Culture: iranian
Location: iran
Subjects: sphinx

Excavations at Hasanlu in Iran yielded a large number of carved ivory fragments which probably decorated wooden furniture or were used as small precious objects such as boxes. The citadel at Hasanlu was attacked and destroyed around 800 B.C., most likely by military forces of the powerful state of Urartu, centered in present-day Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran. In the fire that destroyed the citadel, many objects were crushed and shattered. The blackened appearance of most of the Hasanlu ivories is due to their exposure to high temperatures at the time of the citadel’s destruction. This fragment of a pyxis, or box, depicts a seated sphinx. The beardless, perhaps female sphinx wears a soft peaked cap with a band at the forehead, tucked behind the ear. A curled lock of hair covers the back of the neck. The pupil of the eye is drilled to receive an inlay, now missing, as are the sections that make up the wing feathers. The bottom edge of the wing still preserves a small piece of its original gold foil. The base of the pyxis was originally attached to the sides by means of dowels. Although the base is no longer preserved, one of the dowels still remains, inserted into a hole drilled into this fragment.