Fake – palette, zoomorphic FAK-0007
By Droux, Xavier
Archaeological site unknown.
1997 : Private collection, Kilchberg (Switzerland).Collection unknown, (private collection?).
Date : Modern
Material : Greywacke
Preservation : Almost complete
Preservation information :
The front leg has broken off.
Description
A genuine palette was recarved in its current shape, as is demonstrated by the traces of use on one side of the palette that created a wide, shallow depression that is located off-centre, toward the bottom of the palette. It may have originally been rhomboid or fish-shaped.
The silhouette of the quadruped is ovoid and yet quite angular, with added stylised zoomorphic details. The animal is shown in a standing position, with its head protruding frontward.
Decoration
The horns are short, crescent-shaped, and shown frontally; the ear protrudes below the back horn. The eye is indicated by an unusually small, irregular depression. The mouth is represented by a small incision at the tip of the mouth. The back leg is sinuous, not dissimilar in its outline to a bird head and neck as carved on other palettes and artefacts; this similarity in shape does however not necessarily imply that a bird head was intended. The tail is indicated by a vertical line incised along the backside, with small notches toward its tip. Similar notches are incised on the leg.
Dimensions (cm)
11.9
12.7
Additional information
References
1997
Ägypten, Augenblicke der Ewigkeit: unbekannte Schätze aus Schweizer Privatbesitz. Exhibition catalogue, Antikenmuseum Basel. Mainz & Basel
, 30–1, cat. 11.