Gothic Ivories Project | Box (boite) (Front)

Lid
Female musician (?); tree surrounded by a woven fence; male figure.
Body, front
Two monsters; winged dragon.
End, right
Hunter with a spear; sun; trees.
Body, back
Dog pursuing a boar; sun; trees.
End, left
Running dog; sun; trees.
Foliated borders. Roped border. Crosshatched background.

Attribution
Unknown

Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding and polychromy.

Reverse
Carved on all sides.

Comments
Koechlin seems to have made a mistake when he described this box: his no. 1326 corresponds to a box with very similar iconography, yet not identical to the Madrid casket; he also points out that its lid is missing. The description he gives is the following: Body, front: Courting couple (meeting of lovers); offering of the heart; offering of flowers. End, right: Hunter with a spear; dog. Body, back: Two hybrid creatures. End, left: Dog pursuing a boar.

Provenance
Unknown provenance.

Bibliography
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 527; II, no. 1326? (Koechlin seems to have made a mistake, as the description does not match, yet this is the only box of this kind in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional).
M.-M. Estella Marcos, La Escultura de marfil en España románica y gótica (Madrid, 1984), pp. 251-252, fig. 65.

© Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid.
Credit line: Inv. 52202. Photography: Antonio Trigo Arnal. Archivo del Museo Arqueológico Nacional.

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