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Source Description
This wooden casket has been finely decorated using the Italian style of carved and gilded "pastiglia" that was popular during the later 15th century. It involves creating a paste of lead powder and egg white that could be applied to the wood and then stamped, molded, and either left white or gilded. Such boxes were usually small and were often presented to women as gifts to be used for jewels or other small items. This one is decorated with scenes meant to suggest Roman reliefs, as the fantastical figures were much in vogue then due to the recent discovery of Roman wall paintings with such figures. A delicate casket like this could be passed down from mother to daughter as a precious inheritance.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
25770
label
Jewel Box
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
25770
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Jewel Box
description
This wooden casket has been finely decorated using the Italian style of carved and gilded "pastiglia" that was popular during the later 15th century. It involves creating a paste of lead powder and egg white that could be applied to the wood and then stamped, molded, and either left white or gilded. Such boxes were usually small and were often presented to women as gifts to be used for jewels or other small items. This one is decorated with scenes meant to suggest Roman reliefs, as the fantastical figures were much in vogue then due to the recent discovery of Roman wall paintings with such figures. A delicate casket like this could be passed down from mother to daughter as a precious inheritance.
provenance
F. Ongania, Venice [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1475-1525 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Wood
boxes (containers)
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
15.2
height
27.1
depth
14
dimensionsRaw
H: 6 × W: 10 11/16 × D: 5 1/2 in. (15.2 × 27.1 × 14 cm)
Source extras
med
gesso and gilding on wood
creator_ids
6200
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
none
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
4f79a5587128d37a