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Brightly colored gold and enamel house-shaped box with detail of religious figures

A box with teal, blue, white, and green enamel and gold in a shape that resembles a house, suspended above the ground by small, blocklike gold legs. Across the middle seam of the “roof” is a vertical strip of gold with six keyhole-shaped holes, two clear cabochons, three amber spheres, and a small cross. Inlaid in the box’s surface on one side is six scenes of figures, most holding sacred objects such as crosses. On the other side of the box is a tiled pattern of four-lobed flower-like shapes in various colors.

Gallery Text

Some of the most precious and finely wrought objects of the Middle Ages were made for use in the liturgical service of the church. Crosses and censers were carried in procession, while reliquaries, caskets, and shrines held the remains of saints or objects associated with them. Because of the sacred function of these objects, they were made of the most valuable materials available: ivory, bronze, enamel, rock crystal, and gold. Through their hallowed contents or their liturgical function, these objects provided access to the divine, yet they were also displays of wealth and craftsmanship. Censers and vessels were cast in bronze, while other objects, such as caskets and reliquaries, were assembled from a wooden core and covered with ivory, enamel, and gilded metal. Often, if such costly materials were out of reach, wood or other modest materials were painted and gilded to resemble them.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1957.216
People
Unidentified Artist
Title
Reliquary
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
13th century
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228489

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2440, Medieval Art
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Champlevé enamel
Technique
Champlevé
Dimensions
22.5 x 18.7 x 9 cm (8 7/8 x 7 3/8 x 3 9/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Jacques Seligmann] sold; to Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Isidor Straus, New York, NY (1926); Mrs. Jesse Isidor Straus (1936-1957) gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1970.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mrs. Jesse Isidor Straus in memory of her husband, Jesse Isidor Straus, Class of 1893
Accession Year
1957
Object Number
1957.216
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Jean Henri d' Ardenne de Tizac, Les collections de M. Leonce Rosenberg (Paris), pp 12-14, repr. on p. 13.
  • Ad. de Chalvet de Rochemonteix, Les Eglises romanes de la Haute-Auvergne (Paris, 1902), pp. 488-489.
  • Loan Exhibition of Religious Art for the Benefit of The Basilique of the Sacre Coeur of Paris, exh. cat., Jacques Seligmann & Co. (New York, 1927), cat. no. XXXI, reproduced
  • Rudolf M. Riefstahl, "Two Medieval French Enamels", Fogg Art Museum Annual Report, 1957-1958, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1958), pp. 22-28, repr. p. 25

Exhibition History

  • Loan Exhibition of Religious Art for the Benefit of the Basilique of the Sacre Coeur of Paris, Jacques Seligmann Galleries, 03/01/1927 - 04/01/1927
  • Medieval Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Jewett Arts Center, Wellesley, 11/21/1970 - 02/07/1971
  • 32Q: 2440 Medieval, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu