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Panel from the Lid of a Box

late 14th century
Not on view
This openwork ivory panel once formed the lid of a box. Similar fragments in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Bargello Museum in Florence likely come from the same box. Details of the costumes on the four figures suggest that the box was made in France or England in the years around 1400. Its lacy, openwork composition, complex architectural decoration, and figural composition form a sharp contrast to the decorative repertoire of French ivory boxes made earlier in the fourteenth centuries, demonstrating the continued innovation of ivory working ateliers in the late Middle Ages.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Panel from the Lid of a Box
  • Date: late 14th century
  • Culture: British or French
  • Medium: Elephant ivory
  • Dimensions: Overall (without velvet mount): 3 9/16 x 5 3/16 x 1/4 in. (9.1 x 13.1 x 0.6 cm)
    Overall (with velvet mount): 3 7/8 x 5 1/2 x 1/2 in. (9.8 x 13.9 x 1.3 cm)
  • Classification: Ivories-Elephant
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.194
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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