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Casket with Warriors and Mythological Figures

10th–11th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300
Bone caskets, used by the Byzantines in their homes, were often decorated with themes from classical antiquity. In the Middle Ages many such caskets reached western Europe, where despite their non-Christian decoration they were used in churches as containers for relics.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Casket with Warriors and Mythological Figures
  • Date: 10th–11th century
  • Geography: Made in Constantinople
  • Culture: Byzantine
  • Medium: Bone plaques and ornamental strips over wood; silver lock plate
  • Dimensions: Overall: 4 5/8 x 17 1/4 x 7 1/8in. (11.7 x 43.8 x 18.1cm)
  • Classification: Bone
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.237
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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Casket with Erotes and Animals
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The Antioch "Chalice", Silver (inner cup) and silver with gilding (outer cup and foot), Byzantine
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500–550
The Fieschi Morgan Staurotheke, Gilded silver, gold, enamel worked in cloisonné, and niello, Byzantine
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Casket, Ebony and engraved ivory, tortoiseshell; mirror glass; silver hardware; brass feet; iron lock, Indian, Vizagapatam
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