Casket
ca. 1650 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Mother-of-pearl, jet coral and amber were selected by craftsmen for their beauty, durability and rarity. These materials often occurred in a particular geographical region. Coral for example was prevalent in Sicily and amber along the Baltic coast. Many of the religious items were portable, as were the small portraits. They were often made locally and then taken elsewhere. Pilgrims from all over Europe bought the jet images made in Santiago de Compostela.
Inside this casket are are ivory reliefs of pastoral scenes, which suggest that it was a precious object in its own right, and not used as a container for jewellery or gaming pieces.
Inside this casket are are ivory reliefs of pastoral scenes, which suggest that it was a precious object in its own right, and not used as a container for jewellery or gaming pieces.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Amber and ivory |
| Brief description | Casket, amber and ivory, two-tiered casket with silver-coated brass mounts, later restorations of ribbon and glass, north-east German, mid 17th century |
| Physical description | The casket is surmounted by ivory figures of two dancing putti on half-moons. At each corner of the sideof each tier is a bare-breasted female herm of white amber with auricular masks forming the lower part of each. The casket rests on four amber segmented double bun feet waisted with a band of amber. Four clear amber balls on the lower tier and four cloudy ones on the upper tier are fixed by a metal tang covered in gold foil drilled through the centre with finials of ivory rosettes. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Miss E. M. Dorrell |
| Object history | Given by Miss E.M. Dorrell in 1875. |
| Summary | Mother-of-pearl, jet coral and amber were selected by craftsmen for their beauty, durability and rarity. These materials often occurred in a particular geographical region. Coral for example was prevalent in Sicily and amber along the Baltic coast. Many of the religious items were portable, as were the small portraits. They were often made locally and then taken elsewhere. Pilgrims from all over Europe bought the jet images made in Santiago de Compostela. Inside this casket are are ivory reliefs of pastoral scenes, which suggest that it was a precious object in its own right, and not used as a container for jewellery or gaming pieces. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 269-1875 |
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| Record created | January 22, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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