元 象牙雕劍環紋盒|Box with pommel scrolls

Unknown

14th century · Ivory · Asian Art

The decoration covering the surface of this box is sometimes known as a pommel-scroll design because it resembles the shape of sword’s pommel. A flowering plum tree and crescent moon made of ivory, gold leaf, lacquer, and glass, are inlaid into the interior of the cover. The motif may allude to any number of earlier poems that evoke the shadows of plum blossoms by moonlight in a night filled with their scent.

Artist

Unknown

Date

14th century

Medium

Ivory

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015