St George and the Dragon

This statuette was executed in the 19th century as an imitation of a 15th century work.

The production of ivories in historicizing styles in the 19th century flourished in a number of centres, including Cologne, Milan, Toulouse and Cordoba. Although not always made to deceive, unscrupulous dealers often sold them as genuine objects to their clients. There are a number of ivories in the collection that were made in an earlier style, when in fact they were produced in the nineteenth, or even the early twentieth century. It is not always known when such objects were manufactured as deliberate fakes, intended to deceive, and when they were instead fantasy pieces, historicizing sculptures, simply made in an earlier manner.