Knop van beige hoorn in de vorm van een hondenkop met spitse neus c. 1900 - 1930

Curator: Well, this is peculiar. It’s an ivory knob, dating from somewhere between 1900 and 1930, shaped like a dog’s head with a rather pointy snout. It looks like it could be for a walking stick. Editor: It strikes me as quite elegant, in a slightly mournful way. The smooth, cool feel of the ivory, the slope of that long nose...there's a certain melancholy in its streamlined form. Almost Art Deco, but softer. Curator: It's intriguing to think about the social context for this kind of object. A decorative ivory dog's head on a walking stick. This wouldn't have been something everyone could afford; it speaks of status and a specific type of refined leisure. What does it suggest about how animals were being viewed, both as practical companions but also sources of design motifs? Editor: Indeed! It's as though the dog is perpetually offering its support, a silent companion in all walks of life. There’s a sense of restrained affection. But you're right, this definitely existed within a very particular sphere. It speaks to a time of formal promenades, perhaps a slower pace of life. What do you make of the choice of material? Curator: Ivory was, of course, a hugely desirable and problematic material, linked with colonialism, exploitation and an unequal world system. Objects such as this make very clear just how everyday colonial networks and ideologies became. It adds a darker undercurrent to something that, at first glance, might appear purely decorative. Editor: That’s it precisely. And you can see the marks of the carver so delicately rendered across the smooth material, too. This blend of incredible skill used for a luxury good does bring that complicated past into the present rather effectively. The choice of ivory isn’t a neutral one; it carries history with it. Curator: Absolutely. This unassuming dog head serves as a small but potent reminder of the intricate ways power and aesthetics are intertwined. Editor: A poignant and unexpectedly loaded object, then. Worth pondering further, I think.