casket
- Museum number
- 1947,0706.1
- Description
-
Romance casket; bone. Rectangular plaques, with gilded copper mounts and standing on four gilded copper legs. The underneath panel of vernis brun. The bone panels are carved with scenes from the story of Tristram and Isolde. The lid: Tristram and Isolde lying in bed attended by a servant with a vessel, within an arcade and between two architectural towers. The front: a couple in an arcaded niche above crenellated walls. The back: two battling knights amongst trees, between two towers. The lid, front and back within borders of simple quatrefoils. Each end: a couple flank a tree, above a crenellated wall and between two towers. The ends within borders of grooved columns.
- Production date
- 1180-1200
- Dimensions
-
Height: 93 millimetres
-
Length: 143 millimetres
-
Width: 95 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- Blurton 1997
This is one of the earliest representations in medieval art of the Romance of Tristram and Isolde. The scene on the top face of the casket shows the central episode in the story - Brangwain brings the love potion in a covered cup to Tristram and Isolde who are in bed together. Isolde is the wife of King Mark of Cornwall. The other scenes around the side of the casket are scenes of love and war which may not be specifically related to the Romance of Tristram.
- Location
- On display (G40/dc10/sD)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2022-2023 28 Oct - 5 Feb, Munster, LWL-Museum fur Kunst und Kultur, Barbarossa
2018-2019 31 Aug-6 Jan, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Spellbound
2011-2012 04 Nov-26 Feb, Germany, Cologne, Museum Schnütgen, Köln Glanz und Größ
1998 9 Feb-3 May, India, Mumbai, Sir Caswasjee Jahangir Hall, The Enduring Image
1997 13 Oct-1998 5 Jan, India, New Delhi, National Museum, The Enduring Image
1995 13 May-31 Oct, Italy, Tirol, Südtiroler Landesmuseum, A Prince’s Dream : Meinhard II – The Genesis of Tirol
- Acquisition date
- 1947
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1947,0706.1
