A Pair of English Carved Ivory Erotic Panels

Period: 1800-1900

Origin: England

Medium: Ivory

Dimension: 7.5 x 5 cm (3 x 2 inches)

Literature: In the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, there are two ancient Greek bronze tablets, known as ‘Pinakes’ decorated with erotic scenes. It is supposed that they belonged to workers in Aphrodite’s Guild and served as advertisements for the different pleasures that could be purchased, or possibly that they were votive offerings to the God Hermes for luck and to other deities seeking divine favour for their business.
However, these two ivory plaques were most probably tokens of erotic excitement and amusement, rather than advertisement or votive offering.