Casket with Warriors and Dancers
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Casket: Byzantine, 11th century; hinges, flanges, and lock: Italian(?), 15th century(?)
Casket: ivory and bone; hinges, flanges, and lock: copper gilt
9 x 7 1/2 x 11 3/8 in. (23 x 19 x 28.8 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y. (17.190.239)
The name "rosette casket" derives from the decorative bands carved with rosettes that enframe the figural plaques. The pictorial panels are carved with miniature reliefs representing themes derived from secular subjects such as mythology, the military, or the performing arts. The bands are actually made of bone, a less expensive material. This sheathing is attached by wooden pegs to a core wooden box.
The casket consists of a rectangular box with a truncated pyramid lid. There are three panels on each of the long sides of the box and two on the short ones, all decorated with cherubs wearing only loosely draped scarves and engaged in a number of courtly pastimes. On the front of the lid, two of them perform a scarf dance, a female activity, while two others play a drum and tambourines. On the back and right sides they appear again as tiny soldiers with spears, swords, and shields.On the top of the lid, within the tendrils of a delicate rinceau, one cherub teases a pet panther held on a leash, a second one plays with a dog, while a third has fallen headlong into a footed cup. This trio is probably meant to allude to Dionysos, god of the vine, one of whose attributes is a panther.
Such caskets were often borne by imperial ambassadors as presentation gifts. Precious boxes were enclosed in other splendid containers, meant to be opened with increasing delight. A large number of rosette caskets survive, which probably reflects their popularity. In the Latin West, many passed into church treasures, where they were used as containers for relics. It is likely that panels and bands were made as stock items and then assembled to suit the client. The crude break in the rosette frieze, probably made to accommodate the lock, adds weight to this argument.
Classroom Hints:
Notice: patterns, materials
Discuss: identity of the figures, composition, function
Compare: Casket depicting the Story of Joshua
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Casket with Warriors and Dancers