Casket
- Object Name
- Casket
- Culture / Site
- Sicily
- Medium
- Ivory, brass, tempera, gold leaf
- Date
- 12th century
- Dimensions
- 9.5 x 15.9 x 9.7 cm
- Credit Line
- Art Institute of Chicago, Samuel P. Avery Endowment, 1926.389. Photograph courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago/Art Resource, NY
- Section
- Driving Desires
- Description
This ivory box, or casket, was made on the island of Sicily, off the southern tip of Italy, not long after the Norman conquest. The Arabic-speaking Muslim population of Sicily was not entirely displaced by the Normans, and these communities—and their commercial connections—contributed significantly to a unique visual culture that flourished under Norman rule. The box is embellished with gold leaf and copper fittings, valuable materials that circulated along with ivory across networks that were central to trans-Saharan trade. An inscription in Arabic reads “May glory endure.”