Casket, bone, horn and intarsia, Italy (probably Venice), ca. 1400-1420

The hexagonal casket sits on six bun feet, placed at the corners: three of these, presumably original, are of high polished bone and are fixed with thick dark wooden pegs; the other three are of a greyer and coarser bone. The sides are given over to a running frieze of figurative bone plaques applied above unprepared blank wood. Each plaque represents a couple, presumably male or female, but this is not always obvious from the details of dress. The poses of these couples are variants of three compositions. In one, the woman is clasping her hands across her chest, and one of the figures seems to turn away from the other in rejection. In the second, the couple clasp each other's arms. In the last, the figures are in conversation, with the woman raising her right hand. At each corner stands a figure with club and shield. Above and below are figurative frieze and decorative intarsia patterns. The lid is attached with a modern brass hinge and ornamented with a carved bone frieze of naked winged amorini against a background of rose leaves, and aboce the keyhole, two amorini support a blank escutcheon.

Bequeathed by Dr W.L. Hildburgh, FSA

Formerly in the collection of Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, F. S. A., London. Given by Dr. W. L. Hildburgh in 1956.

This bone marriage casket is made probably in Venice, in about 1400-1420. There is no reason to doubt the bone carvings, although it is noticeable that the frieze of amorini is rather more sketchy in execution than is common on such caskets. The carvings belong to an extremely numerous group, sometimes attributed to Baldassare Ubriachi's workshop. However the large number surviving, the quantity of different hands that can be detected, and the fact that some examples bear obvious relationships to the productions of other workshops, suggest that in fact, such carvings were created by a number of workshops over an extended period, each workshop making use of the same limited stock of designs.

A.15-1956