Knife with Handle in the Form of a Horse's Head1st–2nd century CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 1

Ancient knife with a curved, patinated bronze blade and a carved ivory or bone handle terminating in an animal head, possibly a horse

Title: Knife with Handle in the Form of a Horse's Head
Culture: Roman, probably early Imperial age
Place Made: Probably Egypt
Date Made: 1st–2nd century CE
Medium: Ivory (possibly hippopotamus) and bronze
Dimensions: 1 × 12 1/8 × 1 in. (2.54 × 30.8 × 2.54 cm) Length (of handle): 4 1/8 in. (10.48 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Varya and Hans Cohn
Accession Number: AC1992.152.33
Classification: Arms and Armor
Collecting Area: Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes: While several ivory horse-head handles have been preserved from this period, it is remarkable that this delicate example is the only one to have survived with its bronze blade intact. The expressive carving depicts a bridled horse, lunging forward with dilated nostrils, bared teeth, ears pressed back along the neck, and a windblown mane twisted into locks. The bridle’s series of concentric rings might represent rivets. The knife is reported to have come from Egypt, coinciding with a very similar example from Alexandria originally in the Norbert Schimmel collection, New York.

Provenance: Wilhelm Henrich, Frankfort am Main, sold to Hans Cohn, 1960. Gift to LACMA, 1992

Publications

Hornbostel, Hornbostel. “Erwerbungen der Antikenabteilung, 19651975.” Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 19 (1974): 165.

Thomas, Nancy, and Constantina Oldknow, eds. By Judgment of the Eye: The Varya and Hans Cohn Collection. Los Angeles: Hans Cohn, 1991, 8889.
Selected Bibliography: Thomas, Nancy, and Constantina Oldknow, eds. By Judgment of the Eye: The Varya and Hans Cohn Collection. Los Angeles: Hans Cohn, 1991.

Knife with Handle in the Form of a Horse's Head1st–2nd century CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 1

Title: Knife with Handle in the Form of a Horse's Head
Culture: Roman, probably early Imperial age
Place Made: Probably Egypt
Date Made: 1st–2nd century CE
Medium: Ivory (possibly hippopotamus) and bronze
Dimensions: 1 × 12 1/8 × 1 in. (2.54 × 30.8 × 2.54 cm) Length (of handle): 4 1/8 in. (10.48 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Varya and Hans Cohn
Accession Number: AC1992.152.33
Classification: Arms and Armor
Collecting Area: Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes: While several ivory horse-head handles have been preserved from this period, it is remarkable that this delicate example is the only one to have survived with its bronze blade intact. The expressive carving depicts a bridled horse, lunging forward with dilated nostrils, bared teeth, ears pressed back along the neck, and a windblown mane twisted into locks. The bridle’s series of concentric rings might represent rivets. The knife is reported to have come from Egypt, coinciding with a very similar example from Alexandria originally in the Norbert Schimmel collection, New York.

Provenance: Wilhelm Henrich, Frankfort am Main, sold to Hans Cohn, 1960. Gift to LACMA, 1992

Publications

Hornbostel, Hornbostel. “Erwerbungen der Antikenabteilung, 19651975.” Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 19 (1974): 165.

Thomas, Nancy, and Constantina Oldknow, eds. By Judgment of the Eye: The Varya and Hans Cohn Collection. Los Angeles: Hans Cohn, 1991, 8889.
Selected Bibliography: Thomas, Nancy, and Constantina Oldknow, eds. By Judgment of the Eye: The Varya and Hans Cohn Collection. Los Angeles: Hans Cohn, 1991.