c. 1360

Casket

Artist/maker unknown

This rare casket (an ornamental box) offers a fascinating representation of courtly, secular art in the medieval period. The leather covering of this example is decorated with an abundance of images, including animals, mythological and grotesque creatures, and heads of people, recalling the marginal figures that appear in contemporary manuscript illuminations. On either side of the front, within the complex designs are standing male and female figures wearing garments fashionable around 1360. The lid shows the coats of arms of the counts of Savoy and the Montferrand family of Vaud, Switzerland, areas that were linked politically. The casket may have been made to celebrate a marriage between members of these two important families.