Truncated Pyramidal Box with Heraldic Motifs

Preserved in church treasuries, examples of secular Islamic art were admired and copied by European artists making Christian liturgical vessels. This example features materials and construction techniques characteristic of Islamic Sicilian craftsmen but is decorated with motifs clearly drawn from European heraldry. The decoration resembles the work of Italian craftsmen and might have been added at the request of the owner after the box was purchased.

Provenance

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

Germanisches Museum, Nuremberg; Léon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.