Elephant of Yusuf al-Bahili

The opposite of abstract: a 15.5 cm ivory elephant crowded with a rider, horsemen and foot soldiers, probably carved in Sindh in the 9th century and inscribed in Kufic under the base with the name Yusuf al-Bahili. It is usually read as a chess piece, the elephant that Europe later turned into the bishop. Legend made it a gift from Harun al-Rashid to Charlemagne, which nobody can prove. It has been in Paris since at least the 16th century and now sits in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque nationale.