Casket or Small Cabinet
1 of 3
Object Label
Fabricated from local tortoiseshell, these exceptional objects were produced to serve as mementos or souvenirs of time spent in Jamaica by wealthy landowners. The tortoiseshell is embellished with engraved floral motifs derived from contemporary European prints or textiles. The small cabinet is further decorated with small silver drawer pulls cast in the shape of busts of enslaved Africans. Intended for European consumption, these objects also serve as a reminder that their owners’ wealth was the result of enslaved labor.
Caption
Casket or Small Cabinet, 1677. Tortoise shell, silver, Closed: 6 7/8 x 10 1/8 x 6 1/4 in. (17.5 x 25.7 x 15.9 cm) Front doors open to maximum: 6 7/8 x 17 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (17.5 x 45.1 x 22.5 cm) Front doors open to slight angle: 6 7/8 x 14 x 10 in. (17.5 x 35.6 x 25.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 47.116.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.116.1_PS6.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Casket or Small Cabinet
Date
1677
Medium
Tortoise shell, silver
Classification
Dimensions
Closed: 6 7/8 x 10 1/8 x 6 1/4 in. (17.5 x 25.7 x 15.9 cm) Front doors open to maximum: 6 7/8 x 17 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (17.5 x 45.1 x 22.5 cm) Front doors open to slight angle: 6 7/8 x 14 x 10 in. (17.5 x 35.6 x 25.4 cm)
Credit Line
Carll H. de Silver Fund
Accession Number
47.116.1
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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