Box with Scenes of Floris and Blancheflour

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Box with Scenes of Floris and Blancheflour

Place of OriginNorthern France or Flanders

Dateabout 1350

Dimensions4 1/2 × 6 3/4 × 4 3/4 in. (11.4 × 17.1 × 12.1 cm)

MediumIvory with copper mounts

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1950.302

Not on View

DescriptionCasket with arches, 2 registers (coffret; frise d'arcatures); Original fittings, strap mounts ending in fleur-de-lis and decorated with flowers.

Label TextThis casket illustrates scenes from one of the most popular medieval Romances, Floris and Blancheflour. Rooted in the meeting of cultures and faiths, the story recounts the enduring love between Floris, the son of the Muslim king of Al-Andalus (Spain), and his childhood companion, Blancheflour, the daughter of a French Christian slave who was enslaved herself and sold to foreign traders by Floris’ parents. Their separation appears on either side of the casket’s lock. Depicting the Muslim prince’s heroic attempts to reunite with his beloved, this luxury casket would have made a perfect lover’s gift. Though its origins are unclear, the story was translated into several languages and appeared throughout Europe, including France, Italy, Spain, England, and Sweden.Published References

Molinier, E., La Collection Spitzer, (Paris, 1890), I, no. 104.

Koechlin, Raymond, Ivoires gothiques: Collection Emile Baboin, Lyon, 1912, no. 29, pl. XXVI-XXVI.

Koechlin, Raymond, Les Ivoires gothiques français, Paris, 1924, I, p. 522; II, no. 1313; III, pl. CCXXVII.

Randall, Richard H., Jr., "Medieval Ivories in the Romance tradition," in Gesta, 28, 1989, pp. 30-40 [p. 38].

Weller, T. L., The Illustration of the Medieval Romance Floire et Blanchefleur on an Ivory Box in the Toledo Museum of Art, unpublished MA thesis, Michigan State University, 1990.

Randall, Richard H., Jr., The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Ivory Carvings in North American Collections (New York, 1993), no. 194.

Putney, Richard H., Medieval Art, Medieval People: The Cloister Gallery of the Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 2002, p. 49, repr. (col.) fig. 41.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 110, repr. (col.) (2 views).

Carns, Paula Mae, "Floire et Blancheflor: Gothic Secular Ivories and the Arts of Memory," Studies in Iconography, 32 (2011), pp. 121-154.

The Courtauld Institute of Art, Gothic Ivories, 2015, Koechlin no. 1313, Link to resource<\i>.