Gothic Ivories Project | Casket, with arches (coffret; frise d'arcatures) (Body, front)

Casket, with arches (coffret; frise d'arcatures) (Body, front)

Casket, with arches (coffret; frise d'arcatures) (Body, front)

View other images of this object

Lid

Bottom

Body, front

End, right

End, left

Links

Subject
Secular. Courtly love. Arthurian romance.

Repository Institution
www.risdmuseum.org

To purchase an image
www.risdmuseum.org

Providence, Rhode Island School of Design, Museum of Art

46.567

Ivory;metal (fittings)

Height: 53mm
Width: 130mm
Depth: 85mm

Lid
Unidentified crowned female saint holding a martyr's palm and a book. Adoration of the Magi; attendants with horses; angel crowning the Virgin; Virgin holding a flower; rosettes in the spandrels; pinnacles.
Body, front
Courting couple (meeting of lovers); youth kneeling before a lady. Lady holding a dog; crouching men supporting the lock on their backs, including a bearded man with a crutch; standing knight in armour with outstretched arm. Knight lying on a bed attended by two ladies; knight asleep.
End, right
Knight on horseback charging with a spear; bearded man on horseback with a bow.
Body, back
Courting couple (meeting of lovers); lady crowning her kneeling lover with a chaplet. Lady charging with a spear and shield; knight in armour on horseback, holding a cup or chalice. Youth kneeling before a lady; trees.
End, left
Elopement; couple on horseback; knight in armour; castle; trees.

Museum's opinion 2012: 19th century copy (following Randall's unpublished opinion).

Attribution
Unknown

Reverse
Carved on all sides.
On the bottom, round label with handwritten inscription: '238'. Red and white label with inscription 'A68294' and the current inventory number. Oval red and white label with inscription: '521.25'. White label with typed text: '46.567 (formerly 521.26 French - 14th century ivory reproduction'.

Comments
In a 1985 letter, Randall identified this piece as a modern copy of a casket in Aachen (KK 998; Koechlin 1312). The inside of the casket is lined with red fabric.

Provenance
Collection of Mrs Jesse H. Metcalf; on loan to the museum from 1926; her gift to the museum in 1946.

Image

© Photography by Erik Gould, courtesy of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Jesse H. Metcalf 46.567.

All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.

Please remember to acknowledge any use of the site in publications and lectures as: 'Gothic Ivories Project at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, www.gothicivories.courtauld.ac.uk', followed by the date you accessed the site.