Devotional object made of bone, elephant ivory, mother-of-pearl, and narwhal tusk, Austro-Flemish area, 16th–17th century

Antique devotional altar object, made with a vertical pyramid-shaped structure in bone, enriched with elements in elephant ivory (Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 or Loxodonta africana Blumenbach, 1797), openworked mother-of-pearl and polished narwhal teeth (Monodon monoceros Linnaeus, 1758).

The vertical structure is divided into several overlapping sections and culminates in a sculpture depicting the Madonna and Child flanked by two spiral-shaped narwhal teeth. In the middle section there are cranes, arranged symmetrically. On either side, in the lower sections, there are decorative elements in openwork mother-of-pearl, mounted on a central turned column. On a base that divides the registers, there are four elements shaped like pine cones made of elephant ivory. The iconographic complexity, vertical composition and richness of materials suggest a liturgical or devotional use, probably intended for a private altar or a noble Wunderkammer.

The combination of Madonna and Child, narwhal teeth, ivory, bone and mother-of-pearl makes it a typical example of sacred and cultured art in the context of the Wunderkammern of Northern Europe.

In terms of style, execution techniques and choice of exotic materials, the work can be traced to southern Germany or Austria between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, a period in which sacred art was intertwined with the culture of wonder, exoticism and the most cultured Christian symbolism