Mirror Case
Unknown Artist
ca. 1350
Medium
Elephant ivory
Dimensions
Overall: 3 1/4 x 3/8 in. (8.2 x 1 cm)
Classification
Ivories-Elephant
Culture
French
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.190.247
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Mirror Case* from ca. 1350 exemplifies the artistry of medieval French ivory carving. Crafted from elephant ivory—a rare and luxurious material imported from afar—this small, portable object (just 3¼ × ⅜ inches) served as a noblewoman's vanity item. Its surface features finely incised scenes of men, horses, and animals, capturing chivalric pursuits like hunting or courtship, themes popular in Gothic-era personal adornments from Paris workshops. Ivory's smooth, luminous quality made it ideal for intricate relief work, where carvers used sharp tools to create delicate figures an...