Toilet Case with Scenes from the "Metamorphoses"

Description The outside of this elegant gold toilet case is decorated with chiseled and engraved scenes from the Roman poet Ovid's "Metamorphoses": the seated sculptor Pygmalion admires his creation, the ivory statue of a maiden with whom he falls in love (Book X); and, on the opposite side, Mercury flies above the priestess Herse, the object of his affection (Book II). The case contains a silver-and-gold folding knife, a pair of scissors, a gold bodkin and pencil, a pair of steel tweezers, and an ivory writing tablet. A ring on top indicates that the case could be worn as a pendant so that the utensils would be readily accessible. The button on the side used to open the case is studded with a diamond.

Exhibitions

• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006-2009.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. 2010.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Mark] On back of spoon: LT or IT

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters