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Box

13th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Germany (made)

This is a circular casket with faint traces of painted decoration. The rim is in brass. This casket was acquired in Frankfort and there are similar boxes in the Schnutigen Collection at Cologne, in the Provincial Museum at Hanover, at Essen and elsewhere. This casket is rather heavier in character than the Siculo-Arabic examples, though they are similar in form and show traces of the same decoration. It seems possible that this is a Western, perhaps a German copy.


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Containers
Object type
Box
Materials and techniques
Cylindrical ivory with lock, hinges, and rim in brass. Mounts of gilded metal.
Ivory
Brass
Brief description
Circular casket, ivory, with faint traces of painted decoration, perhaps a German copy, 13th or 14th century
Physical description
Circular casket with faint traces of painted decoration; the mounts of gilded metal.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.88cm
  • Diameter: 4.5in
Object history
Acquired in Frankfort in 1864 for 4£ 12s. 6d.
Summary
This is a circular casket with faint traces of painted decoration. The rim is in brass. This casket was acquired in Frankfort and there are similar boxes in the Schnutigen Collection at Cologne, in the Provincial Museum at Hanover, at Essen and elsewhere. This casket is rather heavier in character than the Siculo-Arabic examples, though they are similar in form and show traces of the same decoration. It seems possible that this is a Western, perhaps a German copy.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1864. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 39
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927. Part I. p. 58
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
1162-1864

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Record createdMarch 25, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O148209/box-unknown/
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