- Title
- Lunch Box
- 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)
- Accession Number
- M.2002.1.603a-b
- 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
- 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.
