Advanced Search 
Plaque with partial scene of Briseis and Achilles
Late Roman or Early Byzantine
Late Roman or Early Byzantine Period
4th–5th century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Ivory
Dimensions
Legacy dimension: H.: 19cm W.: 10.7 cm
Credit Line
Helen and Alice Colburn Fund
Accession Number1976.125
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionThis ivory/bone (TBD pending analysis) relief is part of a larger plaque that illustrated a scene from the life cycle of the Greek hero Achilles from the Iliad. What remains is a composition of 4 figures, two females (one holding her left hand to her face in a gesture of concern, the other kneeling at her feet offering a stringed instrument—the lyre of Achilles) and two males (one older with balding head and beard, the other younger who is seen from behind) from the left side of the fuller scene, now lost. The use of the architectural setting (a colonnade with fluted columns) and the figure of the draped and worried woman suggests that this a scene from the life cycle of Achilles.The closest composition is found on a large silver luxury plate found in France (now in the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris) seems to be a combination of the leading away of Briseis, the embassy of Phoenix, and the death of Patroclus.
The plaque was probably part of a larger group of decorated bone panels that were attached to a wooden chest or box, a luxury item favored in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. It is rare in that it represents a narrative scene as most of the surviving plaques are more ornamental. A number of grand silver display plates survive from this period with scenes from the life of Achilles which attest to the popularity of these myths for all range of luxury objects.
Broken and reglued. Traces of red paint.
The plaque was probably part of a larger group of decorated bone panels that were attached to a wooden chest or box, a luxury item favored in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. It is rare in that it represents a narrative scene as most of the surviving plaques are more ornamental. A number of grand silver display plates survive from this period with scenes from the life of Achilles which attest to the popularity of these myths for all range of luxury objects.
Broken and reglued. Traces of red paint.
ProvenanceSaid to come from Egypt. Maurice Nahman (dealer; b. 1868 - d. 1948), Cairo and Paris; June 4-5, 1953, posthumous Nahman sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, lot 276. Ernst Kofler (dealer; b. 1899 - d. 1989), Lucerne [see note 1]. By 1972, Münzen und Medaillen A.G, Basel [see note 2]; 1976, sold by Münzen und Medaillen to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 1976)
NOTES
[1] According to Herbert Cahn of Münzen und Medaillen. [2] Sonderliste O, December 1972, no. 76.
NOTES
[1] According to Herbert Cahn of Münzen und Medaillen. [2] Sonderliste O, December 1972, no. 76.