A note on an Umayyad carved ivory plaque kept at the Walters Art Gallery

Abstract

This paper proposes an iconographical and stylistic analysis of a carved ivory plaque kept at the
Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore (acc. no. 71.62). It will show that it is not a Coptic artefact featuring
a Sasanian king, as assumed until now, but an Umayyad artefact which must be contextualised within
a specific tradition of imagery related to the expression of the Umayyad concept of Caliphal
authority