The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Flint in the Form of a Bird

4000–3000 BC

Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada II–III

(3650–3000 BCE)

Tan-colored flint

Overall: 5.2 x 5.2 cm (2 1/16 x 2 1/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1995.40

Location

107 Egyptian

Fun Fact

The exact function of objects like this is unknown; it may have been an amulet or charm.

Description

This flint is ground on one side and ripple-flaked on the other, indicating the date. Nonrepresentational flints were tools and weapons. Representational ones like this, however, were undoubtedly tomb gifts and never used. The type of bird represented is a Guinea fowl or quail. A number of Egyptian flints in this form are known although this one is one of the largest and is of exceptional quality.

Provenance
?-1995
(Rupert Wace Ancient Art Limited, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1995-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Cleveland Museum of Art. Annual Report. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1995. p. 38
Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 120; Mentioned: p. 120
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.40