LOT 0346

Medieval Carved and Bone-Inlaid Casket

PROBABLY VENICE, CIRCA 1400-1420 A.D.

9 7/8 in. (1.28 kg, 25 cm wide).

The wood carcass set to the front with a frieze of bone panels carved with paired figures, the sides with further bone panels of differing subjects, each corner with a figure holding a rod and a shield (one a replacement), the back with associated geometric pierced panels; on bun feet; the lid with bone and ebony alternating fillet rim surrounding alla certosina inlay below bone panels carved with winged figures holding banners against a trailing leaf ground; the sides with vacant drops; all below a stepped top with further intarsia work; from the studio of Baldassare Embriachi (active 1393-1433 A.D.); the geometric piercing of the rear panels appears to be Carolingian in style and may date from as early as the 9th century (see Adolph Goldschmidt, 'Die Elfenbeinskulpturen aus der Zeit der karolingischen und sächsischen Kaiser, VIII.-XI. Jahrhundert', Berlin 1914-26, Vol.II, No.180); these were probably affixed as part of a later restoration of the casket, possibly during the 19th century. [No Reserve]

Private collection, London, UK.
Sotheby's, London, 9 December 2005, lot 8.
Ex central London gallery.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11905-207284.

For similar caskets see two held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Nos. 4719-1859 and A.22-1952; see related literature: M. Tomasi, La Bottega degli Embriachi, Florence, 2001; see also P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings: 1200-1550, Part II, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014, especially pp.845-7 and 848-9.

The Florentine merchant Baldassare Embriachi (or more correctly, Ubriachi), whose workshop in the city was producing carvings in the 1370s, moved to Venice in around 1390, establishing another atelier there. His widespread diplomatic and mercantile contacts allowed him to promote its wares, including large altar pieces, through much of Europe. On a more domestic front, it is thought a wealthy and burgeoning merchant class used caskets such as this for gifts during the often complicated marriage negotiations of the period (Glyn Davies and Kristin Kennedy, 'Medieval and Renaissance Art: People and Possessions', London, 2009, pp.105-6). Traditionally all such caskets were attributed to the Embriachi workshop, but it is now thought there may have been a number of different workshops operating in Venice in the early 15th century, producing such works, encouraged by the success of the Embriachi enterprise.