A museum’s interest in historic boxes does not depend on whether they still contain their original contents or are now emptied. Scholarly unpacking of these boxes shows the breadth and depth of their materiality, form, function, and beauty. Their exteriors stand on their own, continuing to delight viewers today.
A highly prized material in medieval Europe, and one that cannot be used today to create new items, was ivory from the exotic elephant tusk. Ivory was typically carved to create decorative objects. During the early Middle Ages through the Romanesque period, ivory was mainly employed to make book covers and ecclesiastical items.
The ivory supply declined in the 12th century but rematerialized in the Gothic mid-13th century with its primary imports from the African savanna. Hand in hand with this influx, the artistic use of ivory expanded. It became fashionable to have ivory religious statuettes, private devotional paneled reliefs, and luxury objects such as combs, writing tablets, and caskets (decorative boxes) for jewelry. The latter personal items were popularly decorated with low-relief carved scenes.
Courting Couples
"Box With Courting Couples," 14th century. Elephant ivory with modern iron and cardboard mounts; 2.75 inches by 6.1 inches by 3.6 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (Public Domain)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Box With Courting Couples” is an exemplary ivory box composed of six panels from the 14th-century French royal courts. Boxes like this were often commissioned and gifted among royals and aristocrats during festive occasions. This work is also emblematic of artisanal evolution. In earlier times, vessels such as this were adorned with decorative designs including foliate and figural motifs. However, in the 14th century, carvers crafted storytelling narratives, drawing on tales from antiquity, epics, and romances.
The theme of this jewelry box is generalized vignettes of romantic courtship and love set in an imagined idyllic setting. Scenes include maidens with men kneeling before them, with some being encouraged while others are snubbed, a suitor offering a ring to his beloved, hand-holding and embracing couples, flower gathering to make a crown, and horseback riding with hawks.
Italian Cassone
Cassone, circa 1425–1450. Pinewood and poplar, gesso, partly gilded, form molded, and painted; 20 inches by 58.7 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (Public Domain)
Large decorated wooden chests called cassoni are historic objects unique to Italy. They were produced from the 14th to 16th centuries, mainly in central Italy. The production of cassoni was a thriving industry, and there were artisan workshops devoted solely to their manufacture and decoration. As in medieval caskets, their decoration often included mythological, classical, biblical, or personally symbolic motifs.
A cassone was typically commissioned by a man on the occasion of his marriage. Given to his bride, it would be filled with her dowry and trousseau, and would be paraded during their public ceremonial nuptial procession. Many couples had more than one, with each holding items of great value. Accordingly, their exteriors were richly ornamented. By the late 1300s, cassoni were the most luxurious items of furniture in an Italian home. After a wedding, they would be proudly displayed in the newlyweds’ main bedchamber, signifying the unification of two families. The more elaborate and luxurious the cassone, the greater its status symbol as a reflection of family wealth.
Since cassoni were valuable pieces of furniture, they would have been moved from home to home. As a result, many cassoni were damaged over time. Cassoni decorated with elaborate exterior gilding were particularly susceptible to incurring damage. Thus, the surviving 15th-century Tuscan Renaissance cassone at The Met is a rare and esteemed example.
The Met’s cassone features ornamental and figural carvings. It is illustrated with a pattern of facing eagles, two heraldic shields representing the bride’s and groom’s families, and a fleur-de-lis pattern. Three main decorative media were used on cassoni: intarsia, in which designs are inlaid; painted panels; and pastiglia, which are sculptural reliefs made in gesso. The Met’s cassone falls into the latter category. Its raised decorations were modeled with the use of a mold on a wooden base in gesso (a plaster mixture used as a primer especially in the Middle Ages and Renaissance) and subsequently gilded.
Needlework Casket
Needlework casket, 1626–1649, produced in Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire, England. Silk needlework, mirror glass, leather, silver thread, wool, silk, gilt wood; 11.1 by 9.4 by 6.8 inches. (Royal Collection Trust)
Pursuing fine embroidery and needlework as a privileged female leisure activity became popular in England during the 16th century. Prominent practitioners who could spare the time to learn the craft and afford the luxurious materials included Mary, Queen of Scots. In the next century, the production of small decorative caskets (or small cabinets) was the height of an affluent girl’s needlework education.
These caskets were usually decorated with a set scene on each side, with themes ranging from mythological to biblical to pastoral. The interiors contained multiple compartments, sometimes also hidden ones, that were used by young women to store personal possessions such as jewelry, toiletries, writing and sewing implements, and letters.
The needlework casket is a fine example in the Royal Collection Trust that is covered in long stitch needlework in silk. Its frontal scene shows a stylish man and woman in a landscape, with each figure set on a door. However, the casket opens in a total of three places and includes divisions, drawers, and hidden compartments. The makers of such surviving boxes are seldom conclusively known.
This object is also called “The Little Gidding Cabinet” as it is thought to be the handiwork of one of the Miss Colletts. The young ladies were famous for their skill with a needle and grew up in the Little Gidding Anglican religious community in Cambridgeshire, England. Mary, Queen of Scots’s grandson, King Charles I, was a patron of the community. According to tradition, this casket was acquired by the king himself, but he left it with the Collett family for safekeeping. It remained in the Collett family until the late 19th century when it was purchased by Queen Victoria, thus returning it to the royal family.
Parisian Snuffbox
Snuffbox, 1734–1735, by Daniel Gouers. Gold, diamonds; 1 inch by 3.25 inches by 2.4 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (Public Domain)
In the late 16th century, tobacco began to be exported from the New World to Europe. At first, smoking tobacco became a popular habit. But during the 18th century, the taking of a pinch of snuff (tobacco in powdered form) evolved into an elaborate aristocratic ritual that denoted taste, status, and wealth.
Vessels called snuffboxes were created to hold the substance, and this gave craftsmen the opportunity to fashion magnificent works employing a range of decorative materials from jewels to miniature portraits, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, hardstones, and enamel to bases made of gold, silver, tortoiseshell, or porcelain. Wealthy owners would have had a collection of snuffboxes that they could match to their fashion or the season. Snuffboxes were exchanged as presents between friends and lovers, like medieval ivory caskets, along with being employed as diplomatic gifts. In fact, a secret language pertaining to specific snuffbox gestures developed in the European courts.
Eighteenth-century Paris, much like today, was the capital of the luxury goods market. It was also the center of snuffbox production. Lids had to be made secure in order for the snuff to remain fresh. The most expensive examples were made of gold. One of the greatest goldsmiths of the period was Daniel Gouers. His snuffbox at The Met is an early example of Rococo decorative arts. This style is characterized by flowing asymmetrical curves, abstract scrolls, and undulating forms. This sumptuous snuffbox brilliantly showcases these motifs with high-quality goldwork and a profusion of diamonds.
These four historic boxes were both public and private objects in their time. They were deeply personal items that stowed valuables and sometimes concealed secrets. In addition, they visibly signaled attributes about their owners and displayed the skill of artisans, many of whom thought “outside the box” to craft these unique items. That is why they are still treasured today in fine art museums.
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Michelle Plastrik is an art adviser living in New York City. She writes on a range of topics, including art history, the art market, museums, art fairs, and special exhibitions.
