Roman Ivory Hair Pin

Ivory hair pin. One end is tapered to a point to be inserted in the hair. The opposite end features a carving of a monkey sitting on his back haunches with his front paws raised at chest height. The monkey carving sits atop a turned section of ivory shaped like a small pedestal, below which the ivory is incised in five concentric bands.

Annotations

Roman ivory hairpin (1st century AD). H.: 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm). New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 17.194.1333.

Online Resources

Photo: © Metropolitan Museum of Art

Associated Passages

Ovid, Amores 1.14

Properties

Image Credit

Metropolitan Museum of Art