Casket thumbnail 1
Casket thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 10a, The Françoise and Georges Selz Gallery

Casket

about 1400 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This exquisite casket is adorned with lions and gilt metal fleurs-de-lys, and is characteristic of French Gothic decoration of the 14th century. The richness of the decoration and the themes chosen, suggest that it would originally have belonged to a prince or nobleman. Before it was given to the museum in 1855, this object belonged to Ralph Bernal MP, heir to a fortune in the West Indies, and one of the greatest collectors of Medieval and Renaissance objets d’art in his time. After his death in 1854, his collections were sold off at high prices, which very much indicated the Victorian passion for all things Gothic.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted and gilded wood, with gilt copper alloy mounts (partly replaced)
Brief description
French, 1300-1400, painted wood, Bernal Coll.
Physical description
Wood (probably beech), rectangular, of nailed construction (12mm planks), end-lapped, with 3 nails holding the front and back to the base, 2 nails at each end, and with a hinged lid. The casket is painted (oil paint) on the front, back, ends and lid with four pairs of seated tawny lions on green grass energetically gazing in each direction (perhaps suggesting vigilance), on a stamped quatrefoil gilded ground (exposing the red bole in many places). The underneath plain, painted. Small areas of canvas are visible where gesso has worn away. The box mounted with gilt copper alloy straps (nailed around the lid and around each corner), and with U shaped bands running under the box which terminate in fleurs-de-lys and six-petalled flower heads, and fitted with an external lockplate (on replacement nails), and a hinged lid handle formed of 3 concave members with a central bead. The box stands on four feet of flattened six-lobed form (at least one of which appears to be a replacement), which are fastened on a spike and nail. No key. Small areas of retouching and regilding.

The interior gilded, and the inside face of the lid gilded and punched with a repeated crowned cipher (C or G, or T on its side), and in the centre are two arms with crossed hands (perhaps to be read as clasped, for a betrothal), set within a quatrefoil.

The interior of the box plain gilded
Dimensions
  • Height: 14cm
  • Width: 20.9cm
  • Depth: 13.8cm
  • Weight: 1.58kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Crowned G or C (inside the lid, repeated)
  • Two arms with the hands crossed
Gallery label
  • CASKET Wood, painted with lions and gilt iron clamps FRENCH; about 1380 From the Bernal Collection 1621-1855(Pre-2006)
  • CASKET. FRENCH; mid-15th century. Painted wood, with gilt metal mounts. Given by Mr. M.T Smith, M.P. 1621-1885. Inside the cover is a pattern in gilt of crowned G's centred on an emblem of clasped hands. This, coupled with the heraldic English (?) lions and French fleurs de lys that decorate the exterior, is perhaps suggestive of an English-French royal marriage. The bears and decoration relate closely to the work of the Master of the Playing Cards and are comparable to the illuminations after this master in a Gutenberg Bible in the Scheide Collection at Princeton.(Pre-2006)
Credit line
Bernal Collection (Given by M.T. Smith, M.P.)
Object history
Given from the Bernal Collection by M.T.Smith Esq. M.P.
Dated by Pollen to 15th century.
Lent to the exhibition 'Ich, Maria von Geldern: Die Herzogin und ihr berühmtes Gebetbuch (1380-1429)', Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, 2018-19.

Historical context
Probably given as a love gift to be used to hold jewellery and other small, precious items (much smaller boxes have been described as intended specifically for rings.) An object with a vulnerable painted surface, as here, would itself probably have been protected by a specially made leather carrying case.

The fleur-de-lis often suggests a French origin, having long been part of the French royal insignia. Note however that Edward III (1327-77) assumed the quartered arms of France and England in 1340 (his claim through his mother Isabella, wife of Edward II). The fleur-de-lis need not indicate a French origin, and other northern European countries may be considered as possible places of manufacture (personal communication, 2007, from Elisabeth Antoine (Louvre, France).

The crowned letter (identification uncertain) inside the lid: presumably relates to the original owner or owner's family (of royal or noble status). The motif showing two arms with clasped hands might refer to a family emblem rather than a specific betrothal.

Lions: On this casket the lions in seated poses or prowling with backward and upwards glances are particularly prominent and appealing. Broadly speaking, the lion in medieval art could symbolise good or evil, Christ or the Devil, foe or ally, depending on its associations in the various stories. While Christians compared the devil to a roaring lion 'seeking whom he may devour' (1 Peter 5:8), the Medieval bestiary recounts how the father lion breathes life into cubs that are born dead, paralleling God the Father's resurrection of Jesus Christ. A heraldic meaning is possible for the lions on this casket, or more likely symbolic protectors of the valuables within it, and perhaps symbolic guardians of the owner herself. Lions in medieval art may embody strength (leo fortis, the strong lion, the source of whose strenght lay in his heart) as well as being associated with images of kingship and nobility. Some medieval commentators claimed that royal blood was immune to lion attacks. In the stories of Reynard the Fox it is the lion who is king, and on seals the lion is often referred to as King of the Beasts. Guardian lions are an ancient idea, found for example in Jewish and Buddhist cultures. Since the lion was supposed, according to legends in the bestiary, to sleep with his eyes open, many seals show lions curled up asleep at the base of a tree. The classical writer Aelian observes 'that even when asleep the lion moves his tail, showing, as you might expect, that he is not altogether quiescent, and that, although sleep has enveloped and enfolded him, it has not subdued him as it does all other animals', (quoted by Jackson p.133). Lions were said to be tolerant, even tempered and compassionate and in some medieval stories, lions lash themselves with their tails to work up a rage because they would normally not harm others unless angry. As this casket may have been a love gift to a woman, it is also interesting that according to some medieval writers lions would not harm a virgin.


For lions in lore and legend, see Deirdre Jackson, Lion (London, 2010).

For the use on goldsmiths' work of opus punctile (point work) - see Neil Stratford, De opere punctili, Beobachtungen zur Technik der Punktpunzierung um 1400, in Das Goldene Roessl: Ein Meisterwerk Pariser Hofkunst um 1400, (Munich Bayerisch Nationalmuseum, 1995), pp.131-146
Production
Probably northern France
Subjects depicted
Association
Summary
This exquisite casket is adorned with lions and gilt metal fleurs-de-lys, and is characteristic of French Gothic decoration of the 14th century. The richness of the decoration and the themes chosen, suggest that it would originally have belonged to a prince or nobleman. Before it was given to the museum in 1855, this object belonged to Ralph Bernal MP, heir to a fortune in the West Indies, and one of the greatest collectors of Medieval and Renaissance objets d’art in his time. After his death in 1854, his collections were sold off at high prices, which very much indicated the Victorian passion for all things Gothic.
Bibliographic references
  • Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum, described with an introduction by John Hungerford Pollen, (London, 1874), p.15. " Box. Wood, quadrangular; painted all over with seated lions, on red and gold ground, mounted with gilt metal clamps, terminating in fleurs-de-li. Inside the cover is powedered with a Gothic letter G, crowned, many times repeated, and in the centre are two clasped hands. French(?). 15th century. H. 5 1/4 in., W. 5 in. (From Bernal Collection.) Given by M. T. Smith, Esq., M. P."
  • Johan Oosterman (ed.) Ich, Maria von Geldern: Die Herzogin und ihr berühmtes Gebetbuch (1380-1429), catalogue (German and Dutch editions) of the exhibition at Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, 2018-19, no. 6 'Verziertes Kistchen' pp. 30-1 [original English text] For people of means in Medieval Europe, caskets (small, ornamented boxes) held all kinds of personal valuables. In households with few private spaces lockable caskets kept precious possessions ordered and private, whether these were papers, jewellery or sentimental keepsakes. For extra security they could be kept inside a lockable chest, but also displayed as occasion demanded. Caskets were constructed and decorated using various materials and techniques, according to their function and the owner’s means. Most commonly wooden boards provided a stout structure, with metal hinges and lock to hold the lid. The exterior might be covered in leather and the inside lined with textile or paper, often rich red. The most expensive caskets used intrinsically valuable materials such as precious metal or stones, or ivory. A wide variety of decorative techniques offered modelled, textured and coloured surfaces using skilful techniques such as moulded leather, enamel or goldsmithing. Ivory and wood was carved, painted and gilded. The impact of this example is achieved by translucent colour applied over gilding, and the richly worked metal mounts. Inside the lid, intricate punchwork would have shimmered in candlelight or as the box was held in the hands. The richly decorated caskets that have survived from the Middle Ages are especially eloquent of gift-giving traditions, which were carefully calibrated to the occasion and status of both giver and recipient. Heraldry or family badges were an immediately recognisable reminder of family authority and bonds of loyalty. Inside the lid of this casket, the crowned letter G (or C) must relate to the original royal or noble owner or giver. The appealing and vigilant lions may be heraldic since their strength led to associations with kingship and nobility, or they may be symbolic protectors of the valuables within. Many caskets can be associated with love, betrothal and marriage. It was customary from the 12th century for a man to present gifts to the prospective bride in a casket decorated with the symbolism and iconography of love: hearts and clasped hands, flowers and birds, hunts and combat, romantic stories, music and games. Customary gifts included combs and hairbands, mirrors, rings and jewellery, handkerchiefs, belts and garters – all of which were brought into close contact with her body, just as the lover sought for himself. With their decoration providing rich scope for secret understanding between a couple, caskets also provided perfect receptacles for love letters.
  • Nick Humphrey, Catalogue entry. In: Ik, Maria van Gelre. De hertogin en haar uitzonderlijke gebedenboek (1380-1429), ed. by Johan Oostermann. Nijmegen / Zwolle: Museum Het Valkhof / Waanders Uitgevers, 2018. ISBN 9789462622012. Catalogue of the exhibition held at Museum Het Valkhof Nijmegen, 13 October 2018 - 6 January 2019.
  • Tristram Hunt 'How museums can help end the culture wars' (article in Prospect Magazine October 4 2020: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/40651/how-museums-can-help-end-the-culture-wars consulted 14/8/2023) Considers the ownership of the casket by Ralph Bernal (1783-1854), whose art collecting was funded by profits of the Richmond Estate in the parish of St Ann in the colony of Jamaica.
Collection
Accession number
1621-1855

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Record createdFebruary 2, 2005
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