Casket with Images of Cupids

This finely carved ivory casket is decorated with curly-haired "erotes" (cupids) in the guise of warriors, dancers, and musicians. The lid shows two in equestrian combat while the trapezoidal panel in front shows a group of four "erotes" and a centaur dancing and playing musical instruments. The rectangular plaque on the casket's front features an "eros" playing a harp on a stand, a chariot drawn by panthers, and two other "erotes" playing musical instruments.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Bought in Italy; Edward Joseph, London, ca. 1888, by purchase; Sale, Christie's, London, May 6, 1890, no. 1003 and February 1894, no. 357; Isaac Falcke, London, 1894, by purchase; Sale, Christie's, London, April 19, 1910, no. 166; Jacques Seligmann, Paris, 1910, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1910, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.