{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O118906"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O118906/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AE6015/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AE6015/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AE6015","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AE6118","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AE6041","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR9426","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KN9702","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LD0436","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LD0438","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LD0439","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LD0440","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O118906/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O118906","accessionNumber":"W.22-1953","objectType":"Box","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Gilt-boxes, decorated with scented lead-based paste (<i>pasta di muschio</i>) and illustrated with ancient Greek and Roman legends, were popular throughout Italy between about 1470 and 1570, and were used for storing small personal effects. This one is decorated with harpies, dolphins and other grotesques, and a series of wreathed medallions containing individual Greek gods or heroes: Apollo playing a <i>lira da Braccio</i>, a Renaissance form of violin, on the front; Hercules slaying the Nemean Lion on the left side; and Milo of Croton, trapped in a tree he tried to split apart, on the right. By this time, everyday objects were more often decorated by mythical figures than religious themes.","physicalDescription":"'Casket of wood  with decoration in relief in a paste (<i>pastiglia</i>) of white lead and egg-binder on a rouletted and gilt ground. Rectangular form covered lid decorated with confronting harpies and scrolled design. Round the sides and ends, eighth scenes from Roman history divided into classical columns. Interior later lined with red baize' - Registered description in 1953.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"lead white","id":"AAT13754"},{"text":"gesso","id":"AAT14952"},{"text":"gold leaf","id":"x33207"}],"techniques":[{"text":"moulded","id":"x30076"},{"text":"gilded","id":"AAT53789"},{"text":"joining","id":"AAT137062"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Alder, covered with gesso, gilding and white lead <i>pasta di muschio</i>","categories":[{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"},{"text":"Medieval and renaissance","id":"THES271264"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AE6015","2006AE6118","2006AE6041","2017JR9426","2018KN9702","2018LD0436","2018LD0438","2018LD0439","2018LD0440"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES301915"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Box","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Venice (city)","id":"x29237"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1510","earliest":"1505-01-01","latest":"1514-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh, FSA","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"32","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"23","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"PASTIGLIA BOXES\r\nGilt <i>pastiglia</i> boxes were mostly made in Venice and Ferrara from about 1480 until 1550. <i>Pastiglia</i> or <i>pasta</i> is the name given to white lead paste, bound with egg white. This was often scented and described in contemporary inventories as <i>pasta di muschio</i> (musk paste). The <i>pastiglia</i> figures and motifs were shaped with a lead mould and then glued to the gilt surface of the box - hence their frequent recurrence on other boxes. The boxes are decorated with legends of Ancient Rome and the scenes copied from woodcuts such as Jacobus Argentoratensis' <i>Triumph of Caesar</i> (Venice, 1504) or illustrations of Livy's <i>Roman History</i>.\r\n(Label text, circa 2000, from old Medieval & Renaissance Galleries)","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Alder box, covered with gesso, gilding and white lead <i>pastiglia</i>, Venice, ca. 1510.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Patrick de Winter: \"A little-known creation of Renaissance decorative arts: the white lead pastigilia box\", <i>Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell' Arte</i>, 14 (1984), pp. 9 - 131. Cat. no. 64"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"W.Hildburgh, 'On some Italian Renaissance caskets with <i>pastiglia</i> decoration',   <i>The Antiquaries Hournal</i>, Vol. XXVI (July - October 1946), pp.136-137, pl. XXIII b, c."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Small display curated by James Yorke, gallery 126, 1984-1985\n\nThree sides are decorated in pastiglia and the back is left blank, but for a layer of painted. The lid is framed with harpies facing each other with masks placed between them: at the four corners are acanthus flowers. The inner frame is enclosed in a fine laurel frame and consists of three circles, the centre enclosing four shells and the outer one medallion each in profile. On the long side is a cartouche of Apollo or Orpheus playing a “lira da braccio”, executed in the style of antique gem stones. This is flanked at either side with a pair of dolphins converging on a bucranium, from which emanate scrolls. On the left side, there is a cartouche of Hercules slaying a Nemean lion and on the right, Milo of Croton. Both of these cartouches are flanked with harpies perched on dolphins. The sides are bordered with a very fine laurel wreath decoration.","date":{"text":"1984-1985","earliest":"1984-01-01","latest":"1985-12-31"}},{"text":"BOX\r\nWood decorated with gesso moulded in relief on a gilt ground (pastiglia).\r\nItalian, late 15th century. \r\nGiven by Dr. W.L. Hildburgh, F.S.A.\r\nW.22-1953","date":{"text":"before 1980","earliest":null,"latest":"1979-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["W.22-1953"],"accessionNumberNum":"22","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1953,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2005-11-22","availableToBook":true}}