A small bone wedding coffer A small bone wedding coffer

The small coffer dates back to about 1370, it has a rectangular plan and it has a wooden core. The lid has a shape of a pyramidal trunk and on it the handle is attached. Both the rectangular container and the lid are completely covered with carved bone parts: the lid has garnished segments that develop horizontally, while the box is covered with figured bone plates, which develop vertically. These tiny and detailed inlays are a typical Italian production that begins after the mid-14th Century, with a workshop that will be defined as "nailed figures" because of the showy copper nails that fix the bone plates. This kind of production will continue until reaching a wide diffusion between the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th Century throughout northern Italy thanks to Embriachi's workshops. Our coffer is part of that first production called the “nailed figure workshop”, mostly located in central Italy, which represents the precedent and the model for the Embriachi, from both a structural and technical point of view.

In the lower part of the lid we find face-to-face pairs of naked winged genii, flying against a background of rose leaves. In the upper part there is an anomalous decoration of racemes and animals. In the front part of the container body, there are unrolled plates with a love subject which, in some way, want to imitate, by idealizing it, the meeting of the two future spouses. The aim is to put into practice all the stylistic features and characteristics of the ideal courtly love: we find different groups and couples of ladies and knights, where the importance of the game of gazes emerges. In fact, the eyes have a fundamental role, because through them passes the contemplation of the beloved woman, who is the cause of restlessness for the man. We recognize a stylized representation of a shrub in front of two figures, that is attributable to the tree of life, a symbol of birth, regeneration, and vital energy. On the corners we find carved depictions of different towers, which are a clear symbol of the lady who has to be conquered with patience and perseverance, just like an impregnable tower.