Box for circumcision instruments

This remarkable leather box was made for an Italian Jewish family from the Renaissance period, probably to mark the birth of a son. It was used to store the implements for the ritual of circumcision, a ceremony that was first performed by Abraham in the Book of Genesis and on all Jewish infant boys when they are eight days old. On the lid, a bas relief depicts a continuous narrative of the Story of Abraham (Genesis 16:1- 16 and Genesis 21:4-21) with the circumcision at center, Sarah chasing Hagar and Ishmael from the scene at left, and a group of male soldiers entering the scene at right. The box is decorated with interlinking arabesques with leaf tendrils, two female busts in profile, birds, and rampant lion holding a palm frond. The image of a rampant lion is one of the most frequent on Jewish objects. This particular type of leather decoration is called cuir bouilli, a method in which leather is warmed and softened, allowing it to be molded, a common technique for crafting leather items during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy, France, Flanders and Germany.