Casket, carved ivory with gilt-bronze fittings
Spain, Cordoba; c. 966-968
H: 9.9; W: 14.5; D: 9.3 cm
Inventory number 5/2002
The ivory casket belongs to a little group of masterfully carved ivory objects that were made for the Spanish Umayyad court in the second half of the 10th century. The casket is the largest in the group, carved from a single tusk. It is also one of the most monumental. The motifs’ various hunting scenes are not found in a latticework of medallions, as on the other caskets. Instead, each side is filled out with entire, independent scenes.
There was once an Arabic inscription around the lid that probably contained the name of the person for whom the casket was made. It was undoubtedly removed when the casket – like so many others of its kind – found a new place in a Christian context in the Middle Ages.
There was once an Arabic inscription around the lid that probably contained the name of the person for whom the casket was made. It was undoubtedly removed when the casket – like so many others of its kind – found a new place in a Christian context in the Middle Ages.
Published in
Published in
Hotel Drouot, Paris, 8.-9./3-1939, lot 15;
Sotheby’s, London, 18/5-1967, lot 23;
Baldomero Montoya Tejada and Baldomero Montoya Diaz: Marfiles cordobeses, Cordoba 1979, cat.no. 70, p. 94 (according to Santa-Cruz 2013, p. 213);
Kjeld von Folsach: “A recently acquired Cordovan ivory casket in the David Collection” in Journal of the David Collection, 2005, 2:1, pp. 116-129;
Claus-Peter Haase: “Volume, flatness, and abstraction: remarks on the style of the David Collection casket” in Journal of the David Collection, 2005, 2:1, pp. 130-137;
Journal of the David Collection, 2005, 2:2, cat.no. 10, pp. 308-313;
Ángel Galán y Galindo: Marfiles medievales del islam, Córdoba 2005, no. 02027, pp. 62-64;
Ángel Galán y Galindo: “Sobre el origin de los marfiles califales cordobeses” in Arte, Arqueología e Historia, 2006, 13, no. 02027, p. 57;
Mariam Rosser-Owen: “The metal mounts on Andalusi ivories: initial observations” in Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owens (eds.): Metalwork and material culture in the Islamic world : art, craft and text : essays presented to James W. Allan, London 2012, p. 313, note 39 (no photo);
Noelia Silva Santa-Cruz: La eboraria andalusí del califato omeya a la Granada nazaríi, Oxford 2013, cat.no. 12, pp. 213-215, figs. 125a-h, and p. 144;
Joachim Meyer: “The body language of a parrot: an incense burner from the Western Mediterranean” in Journal of the David Collection, 4, 2014, p. 32, fig. 9;
Maria Dolores Rosado Llamas: "Los marfiles califales: de los Alcázares Andalusíes a los tesoros eclesiásticos cristianos" in Susana Gómez Martínez (ed.): Las artes del Islam. II : Vidrios, marfiles, metales, cerámica y tejidos, Seville 2020, pp. 151, 168 and fig. 7, p. 276;
Sotheby’s, London, 18/5-1967, lot 23;
Baldomero Montoya Tejada and Baldomero Montoya Diaz: Marfiles cordobeses, Cordoba 1979, cat.no. 70, p. 94 (according to Santa-Cruz 2013, p. 213);
Kjeld von Folsach: “A recently acquired Cordovan ivory casket in the David Collection” in Journal of the David Collection, 2005, 2:1, pp. 116-129;
Claus-Peter Haase: “Volume, flatness, and abstraction: remarks on the style of the David Collection casket” in Journal of the David Collection, 2005, 2:1, pp. 130-137;
Journal of the David Collection, 2005, 2:2, cat.no. 10, pp. 308-313;
Ángel Galán y Galindo: Marfiles medievales del islam, Córdoba 2005, no. 02027, pp. 62-64;
Ángel Galán y Galindo: “Sobre el origin de los marfiles califales cordobeses” in Arte, Arqueología e Historia, 2006, 13, no. 02027, p. 57;
Mariam Rosser-Owen: “The metal mounts on Andalusi ivories: initial observations” in Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owens (eds.): Metalwork and material culture in the Islamic world : art, craft and text : essays presented to James W. Allan, London 2012, p. 313, note 39 (no photo);
Noelia Silva Santa-Cruz: La eboraria andalusí del califato omeya a la Granada nazaríi, Oxford 2013, cat.no. 12, pp. 213-215, figs. 125a-h, and p. 144;
Joachim Meyer: “The body language of a parrot: an incense burner from the Western Mediterranean” in Journal of the David Collection, 4, 2014, p. 32, fig. 9;
Maria Dolores Rosado Llamas: "Los marfiles califales: de los Alcázares Andalusíes a los tesoros eclesiásticos cristianos" in Susana Gómez Martínez (ed.): Las artes del Islam. II : Vidrios, marfiles, metales, cerámica y tejidos, Seville 2020, pp. 151, 168 and fig. 7, p. 276;
Ivory, Wood, and Papier-mâché
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