Iron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory Handle

Iron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory Handle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ivory handle has a tiger or panther carved three dimensionally on the outer edge. On its face is Herakles with his club, resting after cleaning the Augean stables. On the lower right is the container he used to capture the river water, which, according to the myth, he diverted for that purpose. Notched decoration occurs at the lower edge, and notched and crossed decoration is visible on the back. An iron blade extends almost two-thirds of the way into the handle, although the blade and details of its fitting are obscured by heavy corrosion.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Iron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory HandleIron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory HandleIron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory HandleIron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory HandleIron Razor or Folding Knife with Ivory Handle

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.