Ivory disk with rosette
Unknown Artist
ca. 1600–1050 BCE
Medium
Ivory
Dimensions
Diameter 2 in. (5.1 cm)
Classification
Miscellaneous-Bone, Ivory
Culture & Period
Cypriot · Late Bronze Age
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
Accession Number
74.51.5220
Art Historical Context
This delicate ivory disk, adorned with a intricately carvedsette, hails from ancient Cyprus during the Late Bronze Ageca. 1600–1050 BCE). Measuring just 2 inches (5.1 cm) in diameter, it exemplifies the exquisite craftsmanship of Cypriot artisans who worked with imported elephant ivory—a rare and luxurious material traded across the eastern Mediterranean. The rosette motif, a floral or star-like pattern symbolizing beauty and perhaps fertility or celestial themes, was a popular decorative element in Cypriot art, on pottery, jewelry, seals. As a small, portable object classified under bone and...