.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Unmatched in scale and quality, this impressive relief panel almost certainly depicts one of Hannibal's epic sieges during the Second Punic War (218-203 B.C.). Hannibal, the renown Carthaginian military commander, was lauded for his strategic use of war elephants, which played a pivotal role in major victories against Roman opposition at the Battles of Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae in Italy and, finally, at the Battle of Zama in North Africa.
The extremely high level of carving perpetuates a long-established tradition of ivory carving in Southern Germany. Here the highly skilled carver accurately conveys the crowded mle through a seamless marriage of eight tusks, thus producing a continuous, action-packed scene. A similar, though smaller panel, formerly in the George A. Hearn collection circa 1908 was sold Christie's, New York, 21 April 2009, lot 226 (see The George A. Hearn Collection of Carved Ivories, New York, 1908, p. 145).
The extremely high level of carving perpetuates a long-established tradition of ivory carving in Southern Germany. Here the highly skilled carver accurately conveys the crowded mle through a seamless marriage of eight tusks, thus producing a continuous, action-packed scene. A similar, though smaller panel, formerly in the George A. Hearn collection circa 1908 was sold Christie's, New York, 21 April 2009, lot 226 (see The George A. Hearn Collection of Carved Ivories, New York, 1908, p. 145).