Plaque of dark reddish amber carved minimally into the irregular shape of a feline head, with wide brows, huge almond-eyes, long flat nose and tapered muzzle; a thin line runs across forehead (beginning of mane?) and in the center of the forehead is an irregular oval hole, which probably was a flaw in the amber: other examples show that such holes were cleaned out and then refilled with amber powder to create a tonal effect and save the amber nugget being cut into smaller pieces. Back surface is flat, smooth. Upper left corner broken off; shallow hole in forehead; surfaces eroded, abraded.

Turfa notes that large pieces of amber were only minimally carved to preserve their size. The plaque would probably have been set into a piece of ornamental furniture, or perhaps an item of jewelry.

Furniture Inlay | National Museums Liverpool

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Plaque of dark reddish amber carved minimally into the irregular shape of a feline head, with wide brows, huge almond-eyes, long flat nose and tapered muzzle; a thin line runs across forehead (beginning of mane?) and in the center of the forehead is an irregular oval hole, which probably was a flaw in the amber: other examples show that such holes were cleaned out and then refilled with amber powder to create a tonal effect and save the amber nugget being cut into smaller pieces. Back surface is flat, smooth. Upper left corner broken off; shallow hole in forehead; surfaces eroded, abraded. Turfa notes that large pieces of amber were only minimally carved to preserve their size. The plaque would probably have been set into a piece of ornamental furniture, or perhaps an item of jewelry.

Furniture Inlay

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