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Casket with Painted Roundels

late 12th–early 13th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 457
The motifs featured on this casket—peacocks, gazelles, lions, small birds with branches in their beaks, and arabesque patterns—occur frequently in a variety of media in the south Mediterranean around this time. However, here the roundels enclosing these motifs are not interlaced as they usually are. Painted ivories such as this one are thought to have been mass-produced rather than made by special commission. The metal mounting with glass, quartz, and turquoise inserts was added at a later period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Casket with Painted Roundels
  • Date: late 12th–early 13th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Italy, Sicily
  • Medium: Ivory, painted; gilded silver mounts with glass, quartz, and turquoise inlays
  • Dimensions: H. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)
    W. 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm)
    D. 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm)
  • Classification: Ivories and Bone
  • Credit Line: Gift of Alastair Bradley Martin, 1973
  • Object Number: 1973.90
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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