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Box
Unknown - Enlarge image
Box
- Place of origin:
France (made)
- Date:
1675-1725 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved boxwood, with sliding lid, the lid and sides carved with the crucifixion and instruments of the passion
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Dion Dealtry Wilder
- Museum number:
W.8-1994
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This small box was probably used for tobacco or snuff. Although the carving is lively, it was probably done by an amateur and the subject matter suggests that it may have been made by or given to a priest.
The sliding lid is carved with the figure of Christ on the cross, and the sides of the box show simple depictions of a number of objects associated with the account of the passion and death of Christ, as told in the New Testament. These include the pillar to which he was tied to be scourged and his robe, for which the soldiers cast lots, using three dice, shown beneath the robe. Above the robe you can see the three nails which fastened him to the cross, here shown as driven into a heart. Behind the robe two overlapping rods are intended to show the spear with which his side was pierced and the rod on which a sponge with vinegar was offered to him just before his death.
These seem gruesome images to 21st-century minds, but in the 17th century both priests and laymen considered it useful and necessary to be reminded of death and judgement.
