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The Dudley Box
unknown - Enlarge image
The Dudley Box
- Object:
Box
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1579 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Iron, damascened with gold and silver
- Credit Line:
Salting Bequest
- Museum number:
M.665-1910
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 57a, case 13
Object Type
This small box was designed to contain sweetmeats which in the 16th century were given as presents at New Year. This may explain why a comparatively humble object should be dated.
People
Inside the lid, inlaid in silver, is the crest of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (died 1588) the favourite of Elizabeth I. This box must have been made specially for him and was almost certainly given to him as a present. Curiously the box was never opened in the museum until 1968 when the crest was seen for the first time.
Materials & Making
The box is decorated in a technique known as damascening in which gold and silver ribbon is pushed into the cross hatched surface of iron using a copper tool. The iron was darkened to a blue or black colouring using heat or chemicals to contrast with the gold and silver ornament. In the 16th century this technique was especially popular in northern Italy for the decoration of arms, armour and wrought iron. Damascening of a similar character appears on the lock and barrel of the English wheel-lock pistol from Belchamp Hall, on display in Gallery 58A.
