This exquisite casket is adorned with lions and gilt metal fleurs-de-lys, and is characteristic of French Gothic decoration of the 14th century. The richness of the decoration and the themes chosen, suggest that it would originally have belonged to a prince or nobleman. Before it was given to the museum in 1855, this object belonged to Ralph Bernal MP, heir to a fortune in the West Indies, and one of the greatest collectors of Medieval and Renaissance objets d’art in his time. After his death in 1854, his collections were sold off at high prices, which very much indicated the Victorian passion for all things Gothic.
Physical description
Wood (probably beech), rectangular, of nailed construction (12mm planks), end-lapped, with 3 nails holding the front and back to the base, 2 nails at each end, and with a hinged lid. The casket is painted (oil paint) on the front, back, ends and lid with four pairs of seated tawny lions on green grass energetically gazing in each direction (perhaps suggesting vigilance), on a stamped quatrefoil gilded ground (exposing the red bole in many places). The underneath plain, painted. Small areas of canvas are visible where gesso has worn away. The box mounted with gilt copper alloy straps (nailed around the lid and around each corner), and with U shaped bands running under the box which terminate in fleurs-de-lys and six-petalled flower heads, and fitted with an external lockplate (on replacement nails), and a hinged lid handle formed of 3 concave members with a central bead. The box stands on four feet of flattened six-lobed form (at least one of which appears to be a replacement), which are fastened on a spike and nail. No key. Small areas of retouching and regilding.
The interior gilded, and the inside face of the lid gilded and punched with a repeated crowned cipher (C or G, or T on its side), and in the centre are two arms with crossed hands (perhaps to be read as clasped, for a betrothal), set within a quatrefoil.
The interior of the box plain gilded
Place of Origin
Europe (made)
Date
about 1400 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Painted and gilded wood, with gilt copper alloy mounts (partly replaced)
Marks and inscriptions
"Crowned G or C" inside the lid, repeated
"Two arms with the hands crossed"
Dimensions
Height: 14 cm
Width: 20.9 cm
Depth: 13.8 cm
Weight: 1.58 kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Object history note
Given from the Bernal Collection by M.T.Smith Esq. M.P.
Dated by Pollen to 15th century.
Probably used to hold jewellery and other small, precious items (much smaller boxes have been described as intended specifically for rings.) An object with a vulnerable painted surface would probably have been protected by a specially made leather carrying case.
The fleur-de-lis often suggests a French origin, having long been part of the French royal insignia. Note however that Edward III (1327-77) assumed the quartered arms of France and England in 1340 (his claim through his mother Isabella, wife of Edward II). Elisabeth Antoine (Louvre) suggested in conversation (May 2007) that the fleur-de-lis need not indicate a French origin, and that other northern European countries were possible places of manufacture.
The crowned letter (identification uncertain) inside the lid: presumably relates to the original owner or owner's family (of royal or noble status). The motif showing two arms with clasped hands might refer to a family emblem rather than a specific betrothal (Elisabeth Antoine).
Lion: heraldic meaning possible, or more likely symbolic of protection of the valuables within. Lions in medieval art may embody strength (leo fortis, the strong lion) as well as being associated with images of kingship and nobility. (In the stories of Reynard the Fox it is the lion who is king, and on seals the lion is often referred to as King of the Beasts.) Since the lion was supposed, according to legends in the Bestiary to sleep with his eyes open, many seals show lions curled up asleep at the base of a tree. The seated poses with backward and upwards glances are particularly appealing. Broadly speaking the lion in medieval art could symbolise good or evil, Christ or the Devil, depending on its associations in the various stories.
Historical context note
For the use on goldsmiths' work of opus punctile (point work) - see Neil Stratford, De opere punctili, Beobachtungen zur Technik der Punktpunzierung um 1400, in Das Goldene Roessl: Ein Meisterwerk Pariser Hofkunst um 1400, (Munich Bayerisch Nationalmuseum, 1995), pp.131-146
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Pollen, J. H. Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1874), p.15
Attribution Note
Probably northern France
Shape
rectangular
Materials
Wood; Paint; Gilt metal
Techniques
Gilding; Painting
Subjects depicted
Lions; Fleur-de-lys
Categories
Containers
Collection code
FWK
