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Box - Box

Box

  • Object:

    Box

  • Place of origin:

    France (possibly, made)

  • Date:

    16th century (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Engraved ivory with gilt copper mounts.

  • Museum number:

    1637-1856

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

This small box is decorated with engravings of biblical and secular scenes: 1. Samson carrying the gates of Gaza. 2. A grotesque hog churning a tub. 3. A lady in a garden. 4. A man playing on a bagpipe. 5. The two spies carrying the grapes back from the Promised Land. 6. A man beating on a drum and playing on a clarinet. It was probably a luxury object produced in France in the late 16th century.

Physical description

Box with engraved subjscts in fine outline, slightly shadowed in parts. The subjects are: 1. Samson carrying the gates of Gaza. 2. A grotesque hog churning a tub. 3. A lady in a garden. 4. A man playing on a bagpipe. 5. The two spies carrying the grapes back from the Promised Land. 6. A man beating on a drum and playing on a clarinet.

Place of Origin

France (possibly, made)

Date

16th century (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown

Materials and Techniques

Engraved ivory with gilt copper mounts.

Dimensions

Height: 3 cm, Length: 16.5 cm, Width: 4 cm

Object history note

Bought in Paris. £5.
It has also been suggested that the box is of an earlier date, the engravings being added in the 16th century.

Descriptive line

Box, ivory and gilt copper mountings, with engraved scenes of various subjects, French or Flemish, 16th century

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1856. 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 II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929, p. 82
p. 448
Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013
Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, pp. 448, cat. no. 491

Production Note

French or Flemish. It has also been suggested that the box is of an earlier date, the engravings being added in the 16th century.

Materials

Ivory; Copper

Techniques

Engraving; Gilding

Subjects depicted

Man; Lady; Garden; Bagpipe; Drum; Clarinet; Grapes; Hog

Categories

Accessories; Containers; Religion; Christianity; Sculpture

Collection

Sculpture Collection

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