Pyx thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Pyx

1500-1700 (made)
Place of origin
Balkans (made)
Venice (made)

Pyx

BALKAN or Venetian 1500-1700

Boxwood, carved with scenes of the Passion. The background painted red. Niello finial and engraved silver gilt rim. The carving with its small figures and architectural features, in a debased Byzantine style combines with features derived from Gothic art, is typical of Balkan art of this period.


Object details

Categories
Containers
Woodwork
Medieval and Renaissance
Object type
Pyx
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Pyx
  • Pyx Cover
Materials and techniques
boxwood, carving
Boxwood
Carving
Brief description
Boxwood pyx; Balkans(?); Venice(?); 1500-1700
Physical description
Pyx

BALKAN or Venetian 1500-1700

Boxwood, carved with scenes of the Passion. The background painted red. Niello finial and engraved silver gilt rim. The carving with its small figures and architectural features, in a debased Byzantine style combines with features derived from Gothic art, is typical of Balkan art of this period.
Object history
Purchased for 16l from M. Baur, Paris, attributed 'Venetian? 2nd. half of the 14th century'.
Bibliographic references
  • The South Kensington Museum. Examples of the works of art in the Museum, and of the decorations of the building, with brief descriptions. Issued in monthly parts, I-XI (1880), XII-XXI (1881), XXII (1882) [Vol. 1. Parts I-XII; NAL: VA.1881.0001] BOX. BOXWOOD. No.1153—1864. I. 54 THIS box was intended and probably has been used for holding the unconsecrated wafers for mass. In this material, and of the same date, i.e. late in the fourteenth century, such examples are uncommon. It is possibly of Italian workmanship, and has been attributed to a Venetian artist. This, however, is very doubtful. The decoration is rich, and the style and execution of the design are extremely good. The top is ornamented merely with foliated scroll work, with a plainer scroll on the flat silver mount below it. The body of the box is divided into twelve compartments with cusped arches over each, and a carved saint in high relief occupies every spandril. The subjects in the panels represent the different events of the Passion of our Lord ; those which are shown in the etching being Pilate washing his hands, the carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Entombment, and the Resurrection. The figures filling the arches are something over half an inch in height. The etching is the full size of the original. Bought for 16 l.
  • Eleanor Rowe, Practical Wood-Carving: part 1 Elementary (London 1907), ill., p.83-84 'Of the examples given in this chapter the Venetian box (p. 84), for a beginner, would be the most difficult to execute on account of the size, but for anyone who had any facility with his tools the carving would be quite simple. Eight small holes may be noticed in the cover where the spiral reverses, and these were once filled in with precious stones. If the jewels were omitted the ground might be carved so as to be slightly raised at these points, and a carved rosette substituted for the metal centre. This would have to be allowed for in the section prepared for the turner. The pattern and the background should be worked together.'
  • Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum, described with an introduction by John Hungerford Pollen, (London, 1874), p.28-29 'Box, with Cover. Boxwood, with necking and knop of chased silver, intended to hold altar breads, required for the mass. The body of the box is carved with the events of the Passion of Our Lord, in twelve compartments, the cover with scroll ornament. Italian, Venetian (?). Second half of 14th century. H. 4 1/2 in., Diam. 4 in. Bought, 16l. The sides are divided into small arches, and a carved angel fills the spandrils above each. The figures forming the groups are something over half an inch. The lid is bound with gilt metal, which is cusped and chased. The top is carved with scroll work, and has been furnished with a metal handle, which is now incomplete. It has served for some domestic chapel.'
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
1153-1864

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O321835/pyx/
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