Decorative Plaque of a Gorgon

Ivory plaque, carved in relief, depicting a running Gorgon with large tusks, huge eyes and a wrinkled nose. The head and the torso are preserved. The plaque may have been a furniture accessory such as a chest veneer. The original would undoubtedly have shown the Gorgon wearing a short tunic, in Knielauf-pose. Joseph Mayer acquired the item in 1857 from the Revd. Henry Stobart, described as an "ivory gorget" collected in Egypt 1855 (no. 6 on list dated 30 September 1857). "A head of Medusa, with boar's tusks, similar to the coins of Neapolis, in Macedonia. Well carved, but fragmented ivory" (Pulszky, 1856 p. 34).