Casket with Courtly Scenes

Place of OriginParis, France

Date1300-1350

Dimensions2 5/8 × 5 5/8 × 3 1/2 in. (6.7 × 14.3 × 8.9 cm)

Mediumivory, silver (later fittings, hinges and lock)

ClassificationSculpture

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

Object number

1950.303

Not on View

Label TextProbably intended as a gift to a lover or as a wedding present, this casket explores themes of courtly love, chivalry, and games. On the left end, the couple playing chess conjures the game of medieval courtship, symbolic of the battle to win a lady’s heart.Published ReferencesKoechlin, Raymond, Ivoires gothiques, collection Émile Baboin, Lyons, 1912, no. 28.

Koechlin, Raymond, Les Ivoires Gothiques Français, 1924, I., pp. 388, 479, 480, 481, 484; II, no. 1264.

Randall, Richard H., Jr., The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993, pp. 122, 123, repr.

Carns, Paula Mae, "Floire et Blancheflor: Gothic Secular Ivories and the Arts of Memory," in Studies in Iconography, 32 (2011), pp. 129-134, fig. 7 and 8.

The Courtauld Institute of Art, Gothic Ivories,2015, Koechlin no. 1264,Link to resource.

Berzock, Kathleen B., Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2019, repr. (col.) p. 18.

Exhibition HistoryEvanston, Illinois, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University; Toronto, Khan Museum; Washington DC, National Museum of African Art, Caravans of Gold, Jan. 25, 2019-Nov. 29, 2021.