 A larger image of the Morgan Casket, Southern Italy, 11th-12th century. |
A detail of the top right of the Morgan Casket. |
| A detail of the front right of the Morgan Casket. |
One of the most accomplished examples of carved ivory known from Norman Italy, this so-called "Morgan casket" is also one of the clearest expressions of the international artistic milieu in which it was created. Pairs of men in turbans and tunics stand guard at the corners of the casket, recalling in style and programmatic use similar figures on the ceiling of the Cappella Palatina at Palermo. Medallions on the side panels are filled with fantastic beasts and birds, which are hunted by men with spears.
11th-12th century
Southern Italy
Carved Ivory
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 17.190.241
Referenced on p33, MAA 125 - The Armies of Islam 7th-11th Centuries by David Nicolle & Angus McBride:
This carved ivory box was probably made in Sicily shortly before the 11th century Norman conquest of the island. At its corners stand turbaned guards with swords; on the lid and sides are huntsmen with long mail hauberks, short spears, and small buckler-type shields.