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Casket with foliate roundels

Casket
late 10th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The nearest parallel in ivory to that unusual casket is a panel, probably from a casket, with a leaf and scroll ornament in rather low relief, in the Louvre.
This Byzantine casket in ivory is made in the late 10th century and is of a unique design.
Very similar leaf scrolls appear on Byzantine metalwork and enamels.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCasket with foliate roundels (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved ivory in high relief with pierced borders
Brief description
Casket, carved ivory in high relief, Byzantine, late 10th century.
Physical description
Carved with panels of foliage scrolls in high relief surrounded by borders of raised pierced bands.
Dimensions
  • Height: 6.7cm
  • Width: 18.1cm
  • Depth: 12.6cm
Object history
The nearest parallel in ivory to that unusual casket is a panel, probably from a casket, with a leaf and scroll ornament in rather low relief, in the Louvre.
Very similar leaf scrolls appear on Byzantine metalwork and enamels. But a slight difference in the technique makes it possible that the casket is perhaps a contemporary imitation carved under Mohammedan influence rather than a strictly Byzantine work. The carving, if not actually Byzantine, appears to have been done, possibly in Southern Italy, under Byzantine influence (Graeven, Bonner Jahrbücher, Heft 108-9 (1902), Pl. IX, p. 252)
Subjects depicted
Summary
The nearest parallel in ivory to that unusual casket is a panel, probably from a casket, with a leaf and scroll ornament in rather low relief, in the Louvre.
This Byzantine casket in ivory is made in the late 10th century and is of a unique design.
Very similar leaf scrolls appear on Byzantine metalwork and enamels.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1859. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 31
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part I. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1927, p. 47
  • Williamson, Paul. Medieval Ivory Carvings. Early Christian to Romanesque. London, V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2010, pp. 68-73, cat.no. 13
Collection
Accession number
5471-1859

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Record createdAugust 14, 2008
Record URL
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