Casket: Putti and Mottoes of Courtly Love

In the mid-sixteenth century, enamelers increasingly produced three-dimensional objects decorated with secular scenes. This small casket is com­posed of thirteen plaques that depict naked putti playing musical instruments, engaging in mock battles, and courting young girls. Each scene is accompanied by phrases in old French on love’s joys and cruelties, for example, AMOVR.DONE.IOYE (Love gives joy) and PAR AMOR VAINCV (Defeated by love). Such messages were often inscribed on love tokens and nuptial gifts, and this casket may have served a similar purpose. The front plaque at the lower left even depicts a putto presenting his beloved with a casket, along with the words LE PRINS DE BONE FOY (Take it in good faith).

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.