Pratt Ivories
The Pratt Ivories, also known as the Acemhöyük Ivories, are a collection of furniture attachments produced in Anatolia in the early second millennium B.C. They were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1932 and 1937 by Mr. and Mrs. George D. Pratt. The group represents one of the most important assemblages of furniture fittings from the ancient Near East. In particular, a preserved set of four sphinxes, three lion legs, a falcon, and two recumbent gazelles, comprise the earliest and most complete evidence for a luxury chair or throne from the ancient world.[1] Many of the other pieces in the group likely belonged to a number of small decorative objects.[2]
Acquisition and interpretation
None of the items gifted in these donations were scientifically excavated. Rather, they were purchased on the art market for the Pratt's extensive personal art collection.[3] Mr. and Mrs. George D. Pratt subsequently donated the ivory pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a series of four donations occurring between 1932 and 1937. The fittings were also accompanied by numerous clay sealings, terracotta objects, plates, and figurines.
Two of the ivory sphinxes and a plaque featuring a seated lion were given in the first donation in 1932.[4] At the time, the sphinxes were interpreted as "little ivory stool legs" having been made by a Phoenician or Syrian craftsman for the Assyrian market.[5] This assessment was largely based on their resemblance to pieces uncovered in excavations of the Assyrian capital, Nimrud.[6] This comparison suggests a date of manufacture in the early first millennium B.C.
From 1936 to 1937, following the death of her husband, Mrs. Pratt gave numerous other ivory pieces in three successive groups, eventually contributing sixty-six ivory objects, in addition to the three works donated in 1932.[7] While these were immediately recognized as furniture attachments and fittings, scholars continued to debate the origin and date of their production. By 1936, M.S. Dimand, a curator in the museum, challenged the initial assessment of the works, dating them to the end of the second millennium, around the 13th or 12th century B.C., and assigning their production to an "unknown Aramaean art center in Northern Syria."[8]
Acemhöyük
Approximately three decades later, excavations at Acemhöyük in Turkey provided a conclusive answer to the question of the ivories' date and origin. Led by Nimet Özgüç, digging at the site began in 1962, revealing two monumental buildings dating to the early second millennium B.C. One of these structures, in the south-eastern region of the mound, was termed the Sarikaya palace. It had originally consisted of around fifty rooms before ultimately being destroyed by a large fire. Excavations of its rooms revealed numerous clay bullae, which had been baked by the conflagration. These sealings could be connected to known historical figures, which helped provide a date for the palace in the late 19th and 18th centuries B.C.[9]
In 1965, excavations revealed other important finds. In room NA-OA/46, located in the western area of the palace, a small group of luxury items were uncovered. This group included several ivory objects.[10] One of these was a wing, which matched those seen on the Pratt falcon. It would come to be understood that one of the wings presented on the falcon was in fact a replica produced by the museum, and that the Acemhöyük wing in fact belonged to the piece.[11] Other items found were stylistically comparable to the Pratt ivories, including an ivory lion and panels bearing rosette and guilloche designs. Clay bullae matching those in the Pratt collection were also uncovered. Furthermore, later investigations by Machteld Mellink uncovered a photograph from an antiquities dealer in Antakya, which showed of two of the Pratt sphinxes. Reportedly these came from Aksaray, a town near Acemhöyük where items looted from the site were often brought to be sold.[12] All of this evidence effectively demonstrated that the assemblage originated at this site,[13] having been removed illicitly for sale on the antiquities market. The date and origin of the pieces are now understood to be 19th-18th century B.C. and of Anatolian production.
Simpson's Ivory Chair Reconstruction
Form
Although the Pratt ivories cannot be fully understood due to the loss of their archaeological context,[14] Elizabeth Simpson, through in depth analysis of the sphinxes and lion legs determined that the pieces were originally part of what had been a low throne or chair. Her reconstruction of the work, based on close investigation of the ivories' construction, reveals a chair with legs formed from the sphinxes and lion legs. The sphinxes are the lowest element, touching the floor and supporting the weight of the chair. The lion legs rest on top these, facing forward. The front two sphinxes also face forward, while those forming the back legs face outwards to the sides. The rest of the chair, including the frame, seat, backs, and stretchers, would have been made from fine wood.[15]
It is likely that the falcon and gazelle panels, among others, decorated the back of the chair, in accordance with examples seen in Egypt from the 18th Dynasty. Other Pratt panels with rosettes and guilloche motifs may have originally been incorporated into the design of the chair, but unfortunately it is impossible to determine their exact arrangement.[16] Sumptuous textile cushions on the seat would have completed the luxurious effect.[17]
Color
Examination of the ivory pieces also revealed traces of gilding and inlay, indicating that the chair was further embellished with gold, silver, and precious or semi-precious stones. Based on this trace evidence, the sphinxes appear to have had dark, inlaid eyes and were decorated with applied gold and (perhaps) silver leaf. The platforms beneath the lion paws also appear to have been gilded. Traces of silver on the falcon suggest that it too was once covered.[18] It is possible that even more extensive areas than those suggested by the remaining traces were once gilded, but that the fire reached temperatures high enough to burn off much the metal.[19]
The color of the sphinxes and lion legs are also frequently commented upon in scholarship of the ivories. Variations in color occur among the pieces (gray, pink, orange, and red), resulting in pieces that match in form but not in color. These disparities are the result of varying conditions (i.e. the level of oxygen) in the fire that destroyed the palace. The ivories were covered with an iron-oxide rich clay slip, which reacted to these particular conditions, resulting in the color changes. Why the ivories were covered in this slip is another question. It is possible that the clay was applied to act as a bole, to assist in the application and burnishing of gold leaf. Simpson notes, however, that the slip occurs on the undersides and backs of the pieces, which would not have been gilded. Red ivory is also a decorative form attested to in texts of the period, which scholars have interpreted as meaning that ivory was often stained a reddish color. Perhaps in this case, the slip performed two functions, as a bole for applied gilding, and as a colorant for the exposed areas of ivory.[20]
References
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chain: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Honor of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 221–61.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 225.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Honor of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 224.
- ^ Dimand, M.S. (1936). "A Gift of Syrian Ivories". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 31 (11): 221.
- ^ Winlock, H.E. (1933). "Assyria: A New Chapter in the Museum's History of Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 28 (2): 24.
- ^ Winlock, H.E. (1933). "Assyria: A New Chapter in the Museum's History of Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 28 (2): 24.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 224–25.
- ^ Dimand, M.S. (1936). "A Gift of Syrian Ivories". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 31 (11): 222–23.
- ^ Özgüç, Nimet (1968). "New Light on the Dating of the Levels of the Karum of Kanish and of Acemhöyük near Aksaray". American Journal of Archaeology. 72: 319–20.
- ^ Özgüç, Nimet (1966). "Acemhöyük Kazilari/Excavations at Acemhöyük". Anadolu. 10: 15–16.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 246–47.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of his 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 227.
- ^ Özgüç, Nimet (1966). "Acemhöyük Kazilari/Excavations at Acemhöyük". Anadolu. 10: 15–19, 42–45.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 228.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 259.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 253–55.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 259.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented in Celebration of Guenter Kopcke's 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 257–58.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 258.
- ^ Simpson, Elizabeth (2013). Koehl, Robert B. (ed.). "An Early Anatolian Ivory Chair: The Pratt Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". AMILLA: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press: 258–59.
- v
- t
- e
The Met Fifth Avenue |
|
---|---|
Other sites |
|
- Luigi Palma di Cesnola
- Caspar Purdon Clarke
- Edward Robinson
- Herbert Eustis Winlock
- Francis Henry Taylor
- James Rorimer
- Thomas Hoving
- Philippe de Montebello
- Thomas P. Campbell
- Amathus sarcophagus
- Bajaur casket
- Burke Jizō
- Pratt Ivories
- Coffin of Nedjemankh
- Cesnola Sphinx Funerary Stele
- Dipylon krater
- Magdeburg Ivories
- Armenian Gospel with Silver Cover
- Calligraphic Galleon
- Carp and Pine
- Chair of Reniseneb
- Fieschi Morgan Staurotheke
- Hounds and Jackals
- The Hunt of the Unicorn
- Hunting of Birds with a Hawk and a Bow
- Kettle Drums
- Kneeling Bull with Vessel
- Miniature Altarpiece with the Crucifixion
- Modern Gothic cabinet
- Morgan Casket
- Pair of Incense Boxes in the Shape of Mandarin Ducks
- Pomegranate carved in the round
- Rectangular Octave Virginal
- Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio
- Intan Jizō
- The Triumph of Fame
- Vase with lid
- Woman Seen from the Back
- Statuette of Mercury
- Statuette of the lady Tiye
- Phoenician metal bowls
- 1476 Altarpiece
- A Cavalryman
- A Vase of Flowers (1716)
- The Abduction of Rebecca
- The Accommodations of Desire
- The Actor (painting)
- Adoration of the Magi (Bosch, New York)
- Adoration of the Shepherds (Mantegna)
- The Aegean Sea
- The Afternoon Meal (Luis Meléndez)
- Alexander Hamilton (Trumbull)
- The Allegory of Faith
- Allegory of the Planets and Continents
- Alpine Pool
- Altman Madonna
- America Today
- Ancient Rome (painting)
- Annunciation (Memling)
- Annunziata Polyptych
- Anthony van Dyck self portrait
- Approaching Thunder Storm
- Arab Woman (watercolor)
- Arcadia (painting)
- Ariadne (Giorgio de Chirico)
- Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
- Artillery (Roger de la Fresnaye)
- The Artist's Wife and His Setter Dog
- At the Seaside
- Au Lapin Agile
- Autumn Ivy (Ogata Kenzan)
- Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)
- Bache Madonna
- Bain à la Grenouillère
- The Baker's Cart
- The Banks of the Bièvre near Bicêtre
- Banquet in Silence (Marsden Hartley)
- Bashi-Bazouk (Jean-Léon Gérôme)
- A Basket of Clams (Winslow Homer)
- Beauty Revealed
- Black Iris (painting)
- Black Stork in a Landscape
- Boating (Édouard Manet)
- Annunciation (Botticelli, New York)
- Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums (Léon Bonvin)
- Boy Carrying a Sword
- The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne
- Brigand and His Wife in Prayer
- Bringing Down Marble from the Quarries to Carrara
- The Brioche
- Broadway and 42nd Street
- Broken Eggs
- Burg Weiler Altarpiece
- Butler Madonna
- By the Seashore
- Ca' Dolfin Tiepolos
- The Calm Sea (painting)
- Camouflage Self-Portrait
- Cannon Rock (painting)
- The Card Players
- Catania and Mount Etna
- Cemetery, New Mexico (Marsden Hartley)
- Cervara Altarpiece
- The Chess Players (Eakins painting)
- Children Playing with a Goat
- Christ Carrying the Cross (El Greco, New York)
- Christ Presented to the People (Il Sodoma)
- Christ with a Staff
- Claes Duyst van Voorhout
- Cloudy Mountains
- Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine
- Coast Scene, Isles of Shoals
- The Collector of Prints (Edgar Degas)
- Comtesse de la Châtre
- Captain George K. H. Coussmaker
- Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue
- A Cowherd at Valhermeil, Auvers-sur-Oise
- Cows Crossing a Ford
- Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)
- Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych
- Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John
- The Cup of Tea
- Cypresses (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- The Dance Class (Degas, Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- The Dancing Class
- The Dead Christ with Angels
- The Death of Harmonia
- The Death of Socrates
- The Defense of Champigny
- Delirious Hem
- The Denial of Saint Peter (Caravaggio)
- Diana and Cupid
- The Dream of Aeneas (Salvator Rosa)
- Dressing for the Carnival
- Madonna and Child (Duccio)
- Egyptian Woman with Earrings
- Egyptians Raising Water from the Nile
- The Empress Elizabeth of Russia on Horseback, Attended by a Page
- Entrance to a Dutch Port
- Equestrian Portrait of Cornelis and Michiel Pompe van Meerdervoort with Their Tutor and Coachman
- Esther before Ahasuerus (Artemisia Gentileschi)
- Ethel Scull 36 Times
- The Experts (painting)
- The Falls of Niagara
- The Farm at Les Collettes, Cagnes
- Femme Lisant
- Ferry near Gorinchem
- The Fingernail Test
- Fish Market (Joachim Beuckelaer)
- The Fishing Boat
- Fishing Boats, Key West
- The Five Points (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- Florinda (painting)
- The Forest in Winter at Sunset (painting)
- The Fortune Teller (de La Tour)
- Fruit Dish and Glass
- The Funeral (painting)
- Fur Traders Descending the Missouri
- Garden at Sainte-Adresse
- George Washington (Trumbull)
- Gilbert Stuart (Goodridge)
- A Girl Asleep
- Girl with a Cat (Gwen John)
- Glass Blowers of Murano
- Golden Cock and Hen
- A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly Saint Eligius
- The Great Sirens
- The Gulf Stream (painting)
- Harlequin with a Guitar
- The Harvest, Pontoise
- The Harvesters (painting)
- Haystacks:Autumn
- Head of Christ (Rembrandt, New York)
- The Heart of the Andes
- The Hermit (Il solitario)
- The Horse Fair
- Houses on the Achterzaan
- I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
- In a Courtyard, Tangier
- The Interior of an Atelier of a Woman Painter (Lemoine)
- Interior with a Young Couple and a Dog
- Irises screen
- Isaac Blessing Jacob (Gerbrand van den Eeckhout)
- Isle of the Dead (painting)
- Italian Hill Town (Arthur B. Davies)
- Jo, the Beautiful Irishwoman
- Joy of Life (Valadon)
- Juan Legua
- July Fourteenth, Rue Daunou, 1910
- The Kearsarge at Boulogne
- The Lacemaker (Maes)
- Lachrymae (Frederic Leighton)
- Lady at the Tea Table
- Lady with the Rose (Charlotte Louise Burckhardt)
- Lake George (John Frederick Kensett)
- Landscape with Sky
- The Last Communion of Saint Jerome (Botticelli)
- Lehman Madonna
- Lilacs in a Window
- Lobster Fishermen (Marsden Hartley)
- The Lovesick Maiden
- Lukas Spielhausen
- Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly (Mary Cassatt)
- Madame Élisabeth de France
- Madame Grand (Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun)
- Madonna and Child (Bellini, New York, 1485–1490)
- Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints (Raphael)
- Magdalene with Two Flames
- The Maidservant
- Maine Coast
- Majas on a Balcony
- Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga
- The Marriage of the Virgin (Michelino da Besozzo)
- The Martyrdom of Saint Barbara (Lucas Cranach the Elder)
- The Masquerade Dress
- The Matador Saluting
- Max Schmitt in a Single Scull
- Mérode Altarpiece
- Merry company with two men and two women
- Mezzetino (painting)
- The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (painting)
- Miss V Dressed as a Bullfighter
- Model by the Wicker Chair
- Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley
- Moonlight, Wood Island Light
- Morning, An Overcast Day, Rouen
- Moses Striking the Rock
- Mother and Child (Cassatt)
- Mountain Stream (John Singer Sargent)
- Mountain with Red House
- Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses
- Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Phelps Stokes
- Mrs. Atkinson (Gwen John)
- Mrs. Beckington (Alice Beckington)
- Mrs. Hugh Hammersley
- The Musician (Bartholomeus van der Helst painting)
- A Musician and His Daughter
- The Musicians (Caravaggio)
- Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine (Memling)
- Nativity scenes attributed to Zanobi Strozzi
- Night-Shining White
- Northeaster (painting)
- Nude Before a Mirror
- Oedipus and the Sphinx
- Old Trees, Level Distance
- Pity (William Blake)
- Portrait of Madame Jacques-Louis Leblanc
- Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
- American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity
- AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion
- Before Yesterday We Could Fly
- Camp: Notes on Fashion
- China: Through the Looking Glass
- Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire
- Fashion and History: A Dialogue
- Glitter and Doom
- Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination
- In America: A Lexicon of Fashion
- In America: An Anthology of Fashion
- Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years
- Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art Centennial
- The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion
- The Pictures Generation
- Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons Art of the In-Between
- Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
- Te Maori
- Vessel Orchestra