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Casket, 11th–12th century
Probably southern Italy or Sicily
Ivory; L. 15 in. (38.1 cm), W. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.241)

This box, known as the "Morgan casket," is one of the most accomplished Islamic works of art in ivory. Even though it was probably produced in southern Italy, the animals enclosed in the interlacing vine are similar in style and iconography to contemporaneous Fatimid art from Egypt. Sicily was under Muslim rule for almost three centuries, which explains the Islamic influence on the works produced there in medieval times.


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    Casket, 11th–12th century
    Probably southern Italy or Sicily
    Ivory; L. 15 in. (38.1 cm), W. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
    Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.241)