Casket with allegories of the Four Elements
ca. 1650
Medium
Various soft and fruit woods, partly stained and ebonized, carved, ebonized; marbelized paper lined interior; iron mounts
Dimensions
Overall: H. 8 11/16 x W. 16 5/16 x D. 13 in. (22.1 x 41.4 x 33 cm)
Classification
Woodwork-Furniture
Culture
Czech, Chêb (Bohemian, Eger)
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts; Gift of Thelma Williams Gill and The Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation Inc. Gift, by exchange, 2009
Accession Number
2009.470
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite casket, crafted around 1650 by Adam Eck in Chêb (Eger), Bohemia, exemplifies the virtuosic woodworking of 17th-century Central Europe during the Baroque era. Measuring a compact 8⅝ × 16¼ × 13 inches, it served as a luxurious container for valuables, its lid and sides adorned with deeply carved allegories of the Elements—Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Vivid motifs like roaring lions, fiery dragons, and dynamic chariots bring these classical symbols to life, evoking the era's fascination with the natural world and cosmic order amid the religious and political upheavals of the Thirty...