Title

Pyxis, c964 AD, (1881). Creator: M Sullivan.

Caption

Pyxis, c964 AD, (1881). Etching of a small cylindrical ivory box made in the mid 10th century, at Medina Azahara, Cordoba, Spain. The carved openwork decoration of the box, which was presumably designed to hold perfumed substances, would have allowed the scent to waft through the holes. According to the inscription round the lid, the pyxis was made at the command of al-Hakam II (915-976), the second Umayyad Caliph of Al-Andalus, probably as a gift for his favourite wife, Subh, to celebrate the birth of their son in the previous year. From "The South Kensington Museum", a book of engraved illustrations, with descriptions, of the works of art in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (formerly known as the South Kensington Museum). [Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London, 1881]

Date

1881

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector

Reference

HRM19F36_478

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

License type

Rights managed

Available size

62,6Mb (2,4Mb) / 16,9in x 14,4in / 5071 x 4314 (300dpi)

Keywords

arts carving country Spain Spanish Moorish book box museum decorative medieval carved boxes gift present location century scent pierced literature ivory artefact scented artifact 19th century 10th Century tenth century B W Middle Ages Victoria and Albert Museum nineteenth century The Print Collector Museum of Ornamental Art openwork pyxis South Kensington Museum etching engraving Victoria & Albert Museum V&A container Hispano-Arabic V&A Museum Sampson Low Al The South Kensington Museum Marston M Sullivan Sullivan M M. Sullivan Sullivan M. scent box al-Hakam II Hakam