Islam, Christianity, and Judaism exalted the written word, and this elegant box, created to house writing tools, would have had special meaning for its owner. The Latin inscription (Taurus, the son of Mansone) links the box with the Mansone family, a ducal power in Amalfi during the eleventh century.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Pen Box
Date:late 11th–early 12th century
Geography:From Italy, Amalfi
Medium:Ivory; carved; copper alloy mounts
Dimensions:H. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm) L. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm) D. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm)
Classification:Ivories and Bone
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.236
Inscription: Taurus filius Mansonis (Taurus, the son of Mansonis)
Baron Albert Oppenheim, Cologne (by 1902; cat., 1902, no. 1200); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), New York (by 1906–d. 1913; his estate 1913–17; gifted to MMA)
Düsseldorf. Museum Kunstpalast. "Kunsthistorische Ausstellung, Düsseldorf," May 1, 1902–October 20, 1902, no. 1200.
Palermo. Palazzo Reale di Palermo. "Nobiles Officinae," December 12, 2003–March 10, 2004, no. 44.
Molinier, Emile. Collection du Baron Albert Oppenheim. Paris, 1904. no. 62, p. 28, ill. pl. XLVII.
Renard, Edmund. "Illustrierter Katalog." In Die Kunsthistorische Ausstellung Düsseldorf 1902. Düsseldorf, 1902. no. 1200.
Guide to the Loan exhibition of the J. Pierpont Morgan collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1914. p. 8.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2 ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 52.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. pp. 100–101, ill. fig. 45 (b/w).
Cott, Perry Blythe. "Siculo-Arabic Ivories." Princeton, 1939. ill. pl. 78.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 128.
Kühnel, Ernst, and J. & S. Goldschmidt. Die Islamische Elfenbeinskulpturen VII–XIII Jahrhundert. no. 30. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1971. no. 86, pp. 18, 20–22, 67, 78, ill. pl. XCI.
Les Ivoires: Deuxième Partie: Antiquité, Islam, Inde, Chine, Japon, Afrique Noire, Régions Polaires, Amérique. vol. 137. Paris: Tardy, 1977. p. 127, ill.
Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250. 2nd ed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 300, ill. fig. 491.
"Die Königlichen Hofwerkstatten zu Palermo zur Zeit der Normannen und Staufer im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert." In Nobiles Officinae. Milan and Vienna: Skira , 2004. no. 44, p. 213, ill. (color).
Shalem, Avinoam. "Islamic Objects in Historical Context." In The Oliphant. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2004. p. 63–64, ill. fig. 34 a–c, pl. IV.
Galán y Galindo, Ángel. "Catalogo De Piezas." In Marfiles Medievales Del Islam. vol. 2. Cordoba: Publicaciones Obra Social Y Cultural Cajasur, 2005.
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