PROBABLY SICILY, 12TH CENTURY

The form of this small box is very similar to that of the Siculo-Arabic small caskets attributed to 12th century Sicily (The Unity of Islamic Art, London, 1985, no.173, pp.196-7 for example). Many of these have painted details which make clear their Islamic origins such as one in the Louvre painted with a kufic inscription around the cover (L'Islam dans les Collections Nationals, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.420, p.191). The present example is unusual in that its mounts are of silver rather than the gilt-copper normally encountered. The small ring handle in the cover can be compared to that under the larger rectangular gilt copper handle on the example exhibited in London in 1985.