box
- Museum number
- 1978,1002.233
- Description
-
Box in tortoise-shell, horn and walnut. Under glass on the lid is a light-coloured wooden carving, silhouetted on a dark wooden ground, of General Murat and his army crossing the Ticino, with a legend written on the dark ground and at the base of the scene.
- Production date
- 1800 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 8.70 centimetres
-
Height: 3 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Text from catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no. 228:
The carving on the lid of this box resembles commemorative medals of the period by Bertrand Andrieu and others, e.g. the medal illustrated in Trésor de Numismatique et Glyptique: Médailles de la Revolution francaise (Paris, 1836, pl. LXXVl, no. 7). Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was one of Napoleon's most brilliant generals; he married Napoleon's sister Caroline in 1800 and later became King of Naples. The box commemorates an episode of Napoleon's Italian campaign in 1800. The Ticino is a river which flows through Northern Italy into the Po; Murat's success in getting his army over the river near Novara preceded the French victory over the Austrians at Marengo on 14 June. RECONNAISSe is presumably an abbreviation for Reconnaissance, captioning the scene as the reconnoitering of a site for the river crossing. The carving may therefore have been part of a series of scenes of various phases of the campaign. (Charlotte Gere).
- Location
- On display (G47/dc5)
- Acquisition date
- 1978
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1978,1002.233
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: HG.233 (masterlist number)
