Lunch Boxsecond half of 15th century

Not on view

Engraved silver-toned metal lidded box with a flattened oval form, domed lid with spool finial, and allover Arabic or Persian script cartouches and foliate arabesques

Two-piece metal container with dark patina: an oval box with engraved decorative band around its sides, shown alongside its footed lid displayed face-up, revealing a shallow interior with a small central knob.

Oval metal box with domed lid and small knob handle, dark patinated surface densely engraved with arabesque bands, medallions, and Arabic script inscription around the lid.

Title: Lunch Box
Place Made: Syria
Date Made: second half of 15th century
Medium: Bronze, engraved and tinned
Dimensions: 6 x 16 x 9 1/2 in. (15.24 x 40.64 x 24.13 cm)
Credit Line: The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2002.1.603a-b
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: This curious object was probably used to store food for a member of the ruling military elite in late medieval Egypt and Syria while he was traveling. The status of its owner is suggested by the heraldic device, known as a blazon, repeated in the medallions on the cover and body of the richly decorated box. Perhaps as a means of traveling light, the cover of the container may have served a secondary function as a dish; when turned upside down, the round handle would become the foot of the nicely sized dining vessel. Just as people do today, this fifteenth-century traveler sought to maintain all the comforts of home.
Selected Bibliography: Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.
Komaroff, Linda, editor. Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books, 2023.

Lunch Boxsecond half of 15th century

Not on view

Title: Lunch Box
Place Made: Syria
Date Made: second half of 15th century
Medium: Bronze, engraved and tinned
Dimensions: 6 x 16 x 9 1/2 in. (15.24 x 40.64 x 24.13 cm)
Credit Line: The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2002.1.603a-b
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: This curious object was probably used to store food for a member of the ruling military elite in late medieval Egypt and Syria while he was traveling. The status of its owner is suggested by the heraldic device, known as a blazon, repeated in the medallions on the cover and body of the richly decorated box. Perhaps as a means of traveling light, the cover of the container may have served a secondary function as a dish; when turned upside down, the round handle would become the foot of the nicely sized dining vessel. Just as people do today, this fifteenth-century traveler sought to maintain all the comforts of home.
Selected Bibliography: Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.
Komaroff, Linda, editor. Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books, 2023.