Westwood 1876: France, 15th century.
Griggs 1904-1907: France, late 15th century.
Koechlin 1924: 19th century.
Longhurst 1929: France, 2nd half of the 15th century.
Gaborit-Chopin 2003: France, 2nd half of the 15th century.
Williamson and Davies 2014: France, probably c. 1470-1500.
Radio-carbon dating 2011, published 2014: There is a 95.4% degree of probability the elephant died between 1447 and 1631 and a 62.2% degree of confidence in the smaller range of 1447 to 1524.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Two hinges on either sid (original)
Reverse
Flat and smooth.
Object Condition
Large hole recessed from the back in the centre panel. Remains of glue on the inside edges.
Small hole at the apex of the centre panel.
Edge of the right wing split (repaired with two rivets).
Comments
The 1850 catalogue notes that the disc (now empty) contained 'relics of St. Deodatus, St. Paulinus, and St. Donatus'.
Provenance
In the possession of John Webb, London, by 1850; purchased from him by the Museum in 1857.
Bibliography
Catalogue of Works of Ancient and Mediaeval Art, exhibition catalogue, London, House of the Society of Arts, 1850, no. 258.
W. Maskell, Ivories Ancient and Mediaeval in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1872), p. 14 (wrongly designated as 4336-1856).
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), no. 489 ('65.111).
W. Griggs, Portfolio of Ivories [London, 1904-1907], pt. XXXIV.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 340.
M. Longhurst, Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2 vols (London, 1927 and 1929), II (1929), p. 41, fig. 4.
L. Grodecki, Ivoires français (Paris, 1947), p. 126.
M.-M. Estella Marcos, La Escultura de marfil en España románica y gótica (Madrid, 1984), p. 250.
D. Gaborit-Chopin, Ivoires médiévaux, Ve-XVe siècle (Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2003), p. 522 (in relation to Louvre, OA 113).
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 65.
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