Ivory Box

AN00740728_001_l. Tapering sub-rectangular walrus ivory box with sliding lid. It is highly polished and has high relief carving on the lid and four sides, with glass inlays in the eyes of all creatures. The base consists of two pieces connected in the middle by a dovetail joint fastened by numerous iron rivets. These originally also secured a metal band, now lost, around the external surface of the join. Other traces of missing metal fittings occur elsewhere: at the wider end, which is cut away to accommodate a closing device, and has four rivets set cornerwise for the attachment of a plate; at the narrow end where there is a deep slot on each side, with traces of riveting, and on the upper surface of the narrow end, where there is a drilled hole at each side of the lid recess, presumably to hold a plate or strip. The interior surfaces are heavily scored with tool-marks. All these images are © Trustees of the British Museum. These free low-resolution images are covered also under the British Museum's Terms and Conditions (http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/terms_of_use/free_image_service.aspx). The full image collection is available at: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx where you can also order high resolution copies.