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Lot Essay
A similar casket to ours can be found in the Archaeological Museum in Granada (Gabriele Crespi, L'Europe Musulmane, Milan, 1982). Both are of similar form with overhanging lid. The decoration is also close both in technique and material and in the overall outcome of a lattice of stellar motifs. However whilst ours has a stellar lattice where each star is formed of two interlocking squares forming eight-pointed stars, as is typical of Nasrid woodwork, the Granada example has more unusual stars formed of single and paired lozenges. For a discussion on this technique, and other examples of the stellar motif, please see the lot note to lot 162.
Another similar box sold in these Rooms, 17 April 2007, lot 62. In that example however, rather than an all-over stellar lattice such as on the present casket, the stellar lattices were included within panels. Another chest, similarly decorated, was sold in these Rooms, 23 April 2002, lot 36. Likewise, such panels are found in a larger example in the Archaeological Museum, Madrid (Leopoldo Torres Balbas, Ars Hispaniae, Arte Almohade, Arte Nazari, Arte Mudejar, Madrid, 1949, fig.243, p.222). The decoration of the present casket has a more open aesthetic to these examples.
Another similar box sold in these Rooms, 17 April 2007, lot 62. In that example however, rather than an all-over stellar lattice such as on the present casket, the stellar lattices were included within panels. Another chest, similarly decorated, was sold in these Rooms, 23 April 2002, lot 36. Likewise, such panels are found in a larger example in the Archaeological Museum, Madrid (Leopoldo Torres Balbas, Ars Hispaniae, Arte Almohade, Arte Nazari, Arte Mudejar, Madrid, 1949, fig.243, p.222). The decoration of the present casket has a more open aesthetic to these examples.