Openwork furniture plaque with bull ca. 9th-8th century B.C. Assyrian This carved ivory plaque was found in a storage room in Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was used to store booty and tribute collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign. It depicts a bull, striding to the right with head lowered; the lower legs, tail, and horns have broken off. The bull is carved in the openwork technique, in which the background is cut away and remaining elements are carved in the round. The large eye was drilled for the insertion of an inlay, now missing. The ribs are defined by vertical parallel lines, and similar lines frame the eye and the muscular ridges on the back of the neck, as well as the chest. In front of the hindquarters, a horn is carved in relief, suggesting another bull was originally positioned behind this bull and overlapping it. In fact, this plaque was probably part of a row of animals positioned in a frieze and used to decorate a piece of furniture. Ca