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This box is a "pandan," a container for "betel"- thin slices of the nut of the areca palm mixed with spices and lime paste made from ground seashells and wrapped in a leaf of the betel tree. Betel, chewed after meals to help with digestion, was very popular in the Punjab region. This box is inscribed with the name of its owner, Abu'l-Kharid Nur al-Hasan Khan.
H: 3 3/4 × W: 6 × L: 6 7/8 in. (9.5 × 15.3 × 17.5 cm)
medium: brass
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 1988, by purchase.
Each of the four gospels in this book opens on a page with brilliantly illuminated borders depicting the author of the text as well as birds—principally peacocks, symbols of the immortality of the soul—and fountains, representing the fountain of life and the salvation of the soul. This volume consists of 428 leaves with texts in Greek. Its level of sophistication suggests that it was probably written and decorated in a monastery in Constantinople.
Byzantium, Constantinople
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding
Sheet: 28 x 23 cm (11 x 9 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
Gospel books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Henry Inman
American, Utica, New York 1801–1846 New York
3 1/4 x 2 5/8 in. (8.4 x 6.8 cm)
medium: Watercolor on ivory
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 2006.235.312 2006
Gift of Gloria Manney, 2006
Designs cast in sunken relief.
Chinese
5 5/8 x 7 9/16 in. (14.3 x 19.2 cm)
medium: bronze
culture: Chinese
dynasty: Western Zhou [Chou] Dynasty
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This precious volume was obviously highly prized by its owner, the French-born King of Navarre, who had his coat of arms painted on no less than twenty folios. Rather than directly commissioning this manuscript from a specific workshop, it seems that Charles the Noble acquired his book of hours -- perhaps ready-made for the luxury market -- while on a trip to Paris in 1404-05. A collaborative effort, six painting styles are evidenced within the pages of this codex, those of two Italians, two Frenchmen, and two Netherlanders. The painter who was responsible for the planning and decoration of the book, and who produced seventeen of the large miniatures, was a Bolognese artist known as the Master of the Brussels Initials. His principal assistant, responsible for most of the borders, was a Florentine who signed his name "Zecho" da Firenze on folio 208 verso.
France, Paris
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 20.3 x 15.7 x 7 cm (8 x 6 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
This precious volume was obviously highly prized by its owner, the French-born King of Navarre, who had his coat of arms painted on no less than twenty folios. Rather than directly commissioning this manuscript from a specific workshop, it seems that Charles the Noble acquired his book of hours -- perhaps ready-made for the luxury market -- while on a trip to Paris in 1404-05. A collaborative effort, six painting styles are evidenced within the pages of this codex, those of two Italians, two Frenchmen, and two Netherlanders. The painter who was responsible for the planning and decoration of the book, and who produced seventeen of the large miniatures, was a Bolognese artist known as the Master of the Brussels Initials. His principal assistant, responsible for most of the borders, was a Florentine who signed his name "Zecho" da Firenze on folio 208 verso.
France, Paris
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 20.3 x 15.7 x 7 cm (8 x 6 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Hunt was one of the first American artists to draw with charcoal rather than chalk or graphite pencil. In 1877, he visited North Easton, Massachusetts to paint a portrait of the financier and art patron, Oliver Ames. At this time Hunt made several drawings of the town of North Easton, viewed from across a millpond. This drawing portrays the scene around mid-afternoon.
William Morris Hunt (American, 1824–1879)
America, 19th century
charcoal; framing lines in charcoal
Sheet: 26.5 x 41.5 cm (10 7/16 x 16 5/16 in.); Image: 25.4 x 40.5 cm (10 x 15 15/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. G. Tappan Francis
The Moche were unique in ancient Peru in creating realistic human portraits, usually in the form of ceramic vessels. This large example may represent an important captive who, like some Moche prisoner figures, wears double earrings and a hank of hair over the forehead.
Peru, North Coast, Moche style
earthenware with colored slips
Overall: 30.5 x 28.9 x 25 cm (12 x 11 3/8 x 9 13/16 in.)
Gift of Guerdon S. Holden
James Peale
American, Chestertown, Maryland 1749–1831 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sight: 3 x 2 1/2 in. (7.6 x 6.4 cm)
medium: Watercolor on ivor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 68.222.6 1968
Gift of J. William Middendorf II, 1968
This seal, depicting a human-headed griffin attacking a horse, has the detailed modeling of musculature characteristic of Middle Assyrian period art. The use of an empty background highlights the drama of the contest and marks a turning point in Assyrian art later expressed on a large scale in carved palace reliefs. The cuneiform inscription records the owner's name: "seal of Silliya."
Cylinder seals are cylindrical objects carved in reverse (intaglio) in order to leave raised impressions when rolled into clay. Seals were generally used to mark ownership, and they could act as official identifiers, like a signature, for individuals and institutions. A seal’s owner rolled impressions in wet clay to secure property such as baskets, letters, jars, and even rooms and buildings. This clay sealing prevented tampering because it had to be broken in order to access a safeguarded item. Cylinder seals were often made of durable material, usually stone, and most were drilled lengthwise so they could be strung and worn. A seal’s material and the images inscribed on the seal itself could be protective. The artistry and design might be appreciated and considered decorative as well. Cylinder seals were produced in the Near East beginning in the fourth millennium BCE and date to every period through the end of the first millennium BCE.
Assyrian
H: 1 9/16 x Diam: 9/16 in. (3.9 x 1.5 cm)
medium: violet and white stone
culture: Assyrian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Since the 1500s, Hopi women made big-bellied canteens, based on Spanish prototypes, and used them to carry water. By the late 1800s, canteens became popular with Euro-American tourists, who increasingly flocked to the Southwest in search of encounters with “exotic” Native American cultures. Thus, Hopi artists embellished their wares to improve their appeal, here with graceful abstract forms.
Native North America, Southwest, Arizona, Pueblo, Hopi
ceramic, slip
Overall: 20 x 24.5 cm (7 7/8 x 9 5/8 in.)
Gift of the Smithsonian Institution
The central emerald has been subtly incised with a many-petaled lotus flower, a symbol of the sun, suggesting the radiance of the outsize gem. The enameling on the back depicts a peacock with a pair of peahens amid flowers. Peacocks signal the monsoon rains. The refined use of enamel indicates that this piece was assembled in the specialized workshops of Jaipur, but the size of the emerald suggests that it was made for imperial use.
Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Jaipur
Gold, emerald, diamonds, enamel, and pearl
Overall: 7.4 x 4.8 cm (2 15/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Did you know...
The bright color of the emerald indicates it was sourced in South America.
Bequest of Anne Jessop Smith
Iran, possibly Tabriz or Shiraz, Timurid Period, early 15th century
ink and opaque watercolor on paper
Overall: 23.2 x 15.5 cm (9 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Text area: 18.2 x 12 cm (7 3/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Carved sealstones were popular ornaments among Bronze Age Minoans and Mycenaeans and served as insignia of rank and social status. They were influenced by the elaborate traditions of stamp and cylinder seals developed in the Near East and Egypt. Bulls were represented using a variety of materials in the Minoan world, from gold jewelry to terracotta figurines and, most famously, in the relief frescoes of the palace at Knossos that depict bull-leaping.
Minoan
H: 1/2 x W: 1 1/16 x D: 7/16 in. (1.3 x 2.8 x 1.1 cm)
medium: hematite
culture: Minoan
Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.