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Nov 18, 2005

Wooden Casket: Scenes from the Life of Christ

c. 1050

Anglo-Saxon, England, West Midlands?, Romanesque period, 11th century

Boxwood, copper-alloy, glass

Overall: 9 x 7.8 x 15.7 cm (3 9/16 x 3 1/16 x 6 3/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1953.362

Location

106C Medieval Treasury

Description

This casket is a rare, if not unique example of high-quality woodcarving from Anglo-Saxon England. Decorated with scenes from Christ’s life, it was likely made for an ecclesiastical purpose and may have housed relics. On one long side, the Christ child rests in the manger. Above, the Crucifixion is shown with mourners gathered below the cross and two angels flanking it on either side. On the other long side is the Ascension, God’s hand pulling Christ heavenward. Christ in Majesty appears above. The short sides show Christ’s baptism and his entry into Jerusalem.

Provenance

Philip Nelson, London [base was bought by Nelson in Cheshire in 1921; the lid was discovered at Uttoxeter, Staffordshire in early 19th century; Convent of the Sacred Heart, Hammersmith before 1937 when it passed into the Nelson collection. Reunited casket loaned to the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1937-1953]; (Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York).

Citations

Rice, David Talbot. English Art, 871-1100. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952. Mentioned: P. 169; reproduced: pl. 38b

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 91 archive.org

Griffith, Beatrice Fox. Treasure Under Glass, Examples of the Arts and Crafts from the British Isles From the Prehistoric Millennia to the Sixteenth Century A.D. In Museums, Libraries, and Collections Open to the Public in the United States of America. Harrisburg, Pa: Stackpole Co, 1963. Reproduced: P. 19, pl. XVII

Bober, Harry. “Medieval Art at Cleveland.” Apollo: The International Magazine of Art & Antiques 78 (December 1963): 447–56. Reproduced: P. 447, pl. 17

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 45 archive.org

Swarzenski, Hanns. Monuments of Romanesque Art: The Art of Church Treasures in North-Western Europe. London: Faber, 1967. Mentioned: P. 49; reproduced: pl. 66, fig. 151

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 45 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 50 archive.org

Wilson, David M. Anglo-Saxon Art: From the Seventh Century to the Norman Conquest. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 1984. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 193, figs. 243-246

Backhouse, Janet, D. H. Turner, Leslie Webster, and Marion Archibald. The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art, 966-1066. London: Published by British Museum Publications Limited for the Trustees of the British Museum and the British Library Board, 1984. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 125-126, no. 129

Wixom, William D. "In quinto scrinio de Cupro, A Copper Reliquary Chest Attributed to Canterbury: Style, Iconography, and Patronage." In The Cloisters: Studies in Honor of the Fiftieth Anniversary. Elizabeth C. Parker, and Mary B. Shepard, 194-227. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. Mentioned: P. 195; reproduced: P. 200, fig. 4

Rushton, Pauline. “A Liverpool Collector: Dr. Philip Nelson (1872-1953).” Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors 153, no. 467 (January 2001): 41–48. Reproduced: P. 43, fig. 6

Klein, Holger A., Stephen N. Fliegel and Virginia Brilliant. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 132-133, cat. no. 43

Webster, Leslie. Anglo-Saxon Art: A New History. London: British Museum Press, 2012. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 204-205, fig. 173

Marc Antoine du Ry with Donald White, "A Silver-gilt Shrine," Medieval Art in Focus VII (2021). pp. 100, 110, 132, 156, 208

Exhibition history

CMA, October 17, 2010 - January 17, 2011, Walters Art Museum February 13 - May 15, 2011, British Museum June 23 - October 9, 2011: "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe."

The British Museum, "The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art, 966-1066" November7, 1984-March 10, 1985.

Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"

The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art 966-1066. The British Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 7, 1984-March 10, 1985).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).

Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 17, 2010-January 17, 2011).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Wooden Casket: Scenes from the Life of Christ|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.362|year=c. 1050|access-date=09 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Wooden Casket: Scenes from the Life of Christ

Wooden Casket: Scenes from the Life of Christ

Anglo-Saxon, England, West Midlands?, Romanesque period, 11th century

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