Egyptian
Donkey Ornament,
Metal with chamois, 33 cm (13 in.)
Made as an ornament for a donkey in Egypt, this long, narrow strip of thick, rough chamois leather has a thin, leather cord at the top, possibly for fastening to the donkey. The upper two-thirds of the main chamois strip is decorated by alternating horizontal bands of green and brown rows of beads, contrasting with a row of small cones fashioned out of metal and affixed to small oblong peduncles (stalks) of chamois. A short section of roughly textured chamois separates each decorative repeat. The lowest two-thirds of the leather strip has two wide bands of blue beads, again separated by sections of chamois below which are two rounded out-pouching of the chamois strip. The front of these rounded portions are outlined by a row of white beads and inside rows of green or brown beads. The uppermost rounded area has a teardrop shape of green and red beads in its center, and the lower portion has a wreath of blue beads. The backside of these rounded sections are hung with multiple layers of the cone-shaped metal decorations seen higher up on the front, although here the tube-like stalks are red and slightly longer.
Metal with chamois, 33 cm (13 in.)