Maker/s

Embriachi family workshop [ULAN info: Italian carvers, 15th c.]

Category

sculpture
boxes (containers)

Name

casket

School/Style

Renaissance

Description

Wood covered with bone plaques and ornamented with intarsia. The lower part is hexagonal. The pyramidal cover is surmounted by a knob of twelve faces with the original metal mount and ring. A curved frieze in six sections runs round the foot of the cover, on which are winged genii on a ground of foliage, those on the front supporting a plain shield and the one on the back holding in his left hand a 'flying-fish';. Each side of the casket has two plaques, each carved with two figures standing under a little mushroom-shaped tree. These plaques seem to illustrate a story derived from the literature of the Romance. At each corner is placed a spirally fluted column with capitals decorated with a double row of primitive acanthus leaves.

Production Notes

The attribution needs investigation. Probably a wedding casket.

Production Place

North Italy (workshop) (region)

Italian (workshop) (nationality)

Technique Description

wood, covered with bone plaques, and ornamented with intarsia

Dimensions

height: (whole): 24.5 cm
width: (whole): 23.0 cm

Period

early 15th Century

Date

circa 1400 to 1430

Provenance

given: Holden-White, Charles 1935 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection)

Unknown before donor

Given by Charles Holden-White

Inscriptions/Marks

1. inscription
   Position: on bottom
   Method: in ink
   Content: 92756
   Interpretation:
   
2. inscription
   Position: on bottom
   Method: scratched
   Content: Andrea Pisano
   Interpretation: earlier attribution to sculptor
   
3. label
   Position: on bottom
   Method: inscribed
   Content: By Embriacho circa 1420
   Interpretation: attribution
   

Documentation

1. Dalton, Ormonde Maddock Catalogue of the Ivories of the British Museum, London [page: p. 136]
   [comments: Ref. see p. 136]
2. Schlosser, Julius Die Werkstatt der Embriachi in Venedig,
   Source title: Jahrbuch des Allerhochsten Kaiserhauses (1899)
   [comments: Cf. Similar objects in the Museo Civico, Bologna, 220-282]
3. Theuerkauff, Christian (1984) Elfenbein, Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Munich [page: pp. 45-7]
   [comments: Cf. A hexagonal casket with male and female figures round the main register, and putti among foliage on the lid, similar to those on the Fitzwilliam Museum and Walters Art Gallery boxes, pp. 45-7, cat. no. 17, ill. p. 46. Attributed to Venice, Workshop of the Embriacchi? mid-15th century. The author refers to other caskets and gives bibliography for them.]
4. Randall, Richard H. Jr. (1985) Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery, New York [page: pp. 196-7]
   [comments: Cf. A hexagonal casket decorated with the life of Paris, and described as a marriage casket, see colour pl. 78 on p. 196, text on p. 197, and see p. 236, Cat. No. 355. Attributed to the Embriachi workshop, Venice, early 15th century. Reference is made to others in the Museo Civico Bologna, see J. Schlosser, 'Die Werkstatt der Embriachi in Venedig', Jahrbuch des Allerhochsten Kaiserhauses, 1899, 220-282.]
5. Sotheby's (1989) European Sculpture and Works of Art, London: Sotheby's [page: p. 12] 20 April 1989)
   [comments: Cf. A hexagonal marriage casket attributed to the Embriachi Workshop, early 15th century, p. 12, lot 9. (Estimate £5,000-8,000) This has scenes on the sides, either from the story of Paris or that of Mattabruna, both of which involve abandonned children.]
6. Tomasi, Michele Baldassarre Ubriachi, le maïtre, le public, Paris [page: 51-60]
   Source title: Revue de l'Art (2001-4)
   [comments: Ref. For the Ubriachi family]

Other Notes

Cf. A large octagonal casket decorated with figures telling the story of Jason, in the Musée de Cluny, inv. no. CL 374, attributed to Venice, 15th century, workshop of the Embriachi.

Accession Number

M.3-1935 (Applied Arts)
(Reference Number: 31815; Input Date: 2001-07-16 / Last Edit: 2010-01-19)