Cleveland Museum of Art

Ladies Entertained by Dancers

Date

1–200 CE

Medium

ivory

Culture

Afghanistan, Begram, Kushan period

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This ivory carving was made to sheath wooden furniture made in India for trade along the Silk Road, which stretched from Rome to China. Indian ivory-faced furnishings--along with lacquer boxes from China and painted glass from Rome--were found in an extraordinary deposit of luxury goods at a site called Begram. The wood on which the ivory and lacquer were affixed has long disintegrated, and only the small pieces remain.

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