Tobacco box

Unknown

18th century · Brass · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The box is oval. On the lid is a roundel showing the prophet Elijah seated in a landscape and receiving food from two ravens (I Kings 17:4): Inscribed below is: Elias. Two figures in early-18th-century dress, standing on pedestals, flank the medallion. The man holds a hat, the woman a fan. They are rendered against a crudely hatched background with drapery. The roundel on the underside shows the nude figure of an angel next to a truncated tree. This may illustrate I Kings 19:4-5, in which Elijah, resting under a juniper tree, is awakened by an angel who gives him food. Two figures similar to those on the cover flank the medallion. With lined rims and molded edges. The borders and sides are decorated with chevron ornament.

Artist

Unknown

Date

18th century

Medium

Brass

Culture

Dutch

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Joseph W. Drexel, 1889