Morgan Casket

The carvings are considered among the most beautiful carvings from southern Italy during Norman rule. The overall dimensions are 8 7/8 in. (22.3 cm) high, 15 3/16 in. (38.6 cm) wide, 7 7/8 in. (20 cm) deep and the lid is 2 3/4 in. (7 cm) high. It was part of the donation by J. Morgan's estate in 1917.

• Title — Morgan Casket • Year — c. 11th or 12th century • Subject — A most beautiful example of skilled carving in ivory from Norman Sicily • Height Metric — 22.3 • Width Metric — 20 • Length Metric — 38.6 • Museum — Metropolitan Museum of Art • City — New York • Medium — ivory

Similarly, the way the human figures and the animals are shown illustrates information about gender traditions. The aggressive male behavior against the animals causes the beasts to attempt to defend themselves. These scenes illustrate hostility between the males and the animals suggesting an aggressive masculine representation. In contrast to the fierce male image, the illustrations of the woman suggest peace, respect, tenderness, and reverence as shown by the image on the Morgan Casket of a camel that kneels to a woman. There is a clear distinction between the male and female actions that illustrate the gender attitudes. The males have leading roles that emphasize their superior place in the court, compared to the more idle women. The woman is modestly veiled and positioned away from the males on the casket. She appears fragile with a more passive role in the court as compared with the male’s courageous activities. The woman is in isolation protected from the chaos. Her image on the casket is consistent with traditional gender roles of the dominant male and the docile female. The base was built with a wooden core and the ivory panels were attached with pegs. With the ivory stained, painted, or gilded the finished box was beautiful and suitable for royal uses. The flat lids would either slide open or use hinges. With truncated pyramids, such as the Morgan Casket, the lids were hinged.

But the casket may not be all original. The original parts are the back, ends, most of the top, half of the bottom, and possibly part of the iron fittings. Except for the portion of the irons, these pieces likely belong together but have been reassembled in their entirety. Modern restorations include the front, the upper left corner and the strip along the back of the lid, half of the bottom, the escutcheon plate and maybe other iron fittings. Even with the reassembly of these parts and restoration of others, the casket is one of the finest examples of the superb era of Gothic carvings.

Ivory was used to construct the Morgan Casket and other items intended for royal use because of its durability. The smoothness of the texture made it ideal for carving, but its rarity resulted in ivory objects being expensive. Due to the expense and the characteristics of the ivory it was used for intricate carvings for items made for royal families. The precious items were intended as gifts to other royals, gifts for important events such as weddings and passage of age ceremonies, and gifts for special people.

Images carved on the casket are dressed in royal costumes and mostly consist of men in pursuit of or defending an attack from a wild animal. The lid of the Morgan Casket has a roundel with an eagle spreading its wings. The strength and courage of the males are illustrated by the carvings so that the wealth of the family and its capabilities of defending its territory are all suggested by the beautiful ivory casket. Both the decorations with figures and the ivory material of the Islamic items reinforce the role of male sovereignty. One element of the decoration almost uniformly present is a border around the panels whether they were rectangular or square. The borders consist of a rosettes within circles with arrow heads placed above or below the triangular areas at the point of contact of the circles. The repetitiveness of the border images could be monotonous but that was avoided through making small changes in the shape of the rosettes or changing the cutting depth. In a few cases the medallion-heads and rosettes were alternated. The many different decorations on the casket include medallions of interlaced vine scrolls with hunters, beasts, and birds in them. The bearded figures at the corners seem to be guarding the images. The images carved into the panels of the Morgan Casket enable studying the articulation of the figures, their proportion, and how the feet and hands are displayed.

The Oriental nature of the decoration is clear, it has differences in style from other Mohammedan work from Egypt, Syria, or Mesopotamia. The Morgan ivories (including the Morgan Casket) are more similar to the art of Moorish Spain or that of southern Italy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, where the Normans, through the conquest of Sicily, had introduced the Arabic art of their day. Many Mohammedan artists were employed under the Norman kings. The carvings on the ivories include images relating to the royal court to emphasize the objects’ status for royals and include low-relief images of royal figures, activities of the males in the royal family, and animal motifs symbolic of the royals. For example, lions, gazelles, bulls and eagles are carved into the casket as they were commonly symbols of royal power. The eagle is a sign royalty and is important to illustrate the noble quality of the box. All images are carved in extensive detail. With the expensive ivory material and the creative carvings, the ivories prove the artistic significance and wealth of the Islamic royal courts. The decorations on the casket are elaborately carved images of royals hunting animals in the traditional ways of royal life. The images shown of men hunting exotic beasts and birds with spears are repeated on the casket. Hunting was one of the leisure pursuits of the kings and the royal court and implied authority, skill, and courage to challenge these wild and ferocious animals. The hunting scenes illustrate the superiority of the royal family to the animals suggesting the same characteristics in their ruling of the kingdom. Powerful rulers used the hunting motifs to assert their superiority and bravery in hunting, as well as in the more formal aspect of ruling their kingdom. These scenes also show their power against enemies.

Similarly, the way the human figures and the animals are shown illustrates information about gender traditions. The aggressive male behavior against the animals causes the beasts to attempt to defend themselves. These scenes illustrate hostility between the males and the animals suggesting an aggressive masculine representation. In contrast to the fierce male image, the illustrations of the woman suggest peace, respect, tenderness, and reverence as shown by the image on the Morgan Casket of a camel that kneels to a woman. There is a clear distinction between the male and female actions that illustrate the gender attitudes. The males have leading roles that emphasize their superior place in the court, compared to the more idle women. The woman is modestly veiled and positioned away from the males on the casket. She appears fragile with a more passive role in the court as compared with the male’s courageous activities. The woman is in isolation protected from the chaos. Her image on the casket is consistent with traditional gender roles of the dominant male and the docile female.

• Illustration — Close up view of the front showing the fine detail in the carvings. • Illustration — Back of the casket showing the location of the hinges

Morgan Casket is recorded from 1099.

• A similar casket exists in the Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The Maastricht Siculo-Arabic chest is smaller than the Morgan Casket but the carvings are almost identical, including the corner figures. • Another ivory casket in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin is more or less the same size as the Morgan Casket but misses both the 'balustrade' along the lower edge, as well as the corner figures. This casket is said to originate from Speyer Cathedral. • Various olifants in museum collections worldwide are carved similarly and may originate from the same workshop.