What is this?
This ivory pen box celebrates the iconography of animals. It includes some animals from Africa, the place of origin for much of Europe's ivory. Through detailed depictions of boars, lions, gazelles, and cranes, the designer of this box showed these animals in symmetrical designs characteristic of Islamic compositions. Medieval art showing exotic animals served as diplomatic gifts to European rulers or could be brought back as treasure from pilgrimage or crusade. Both the material of ivory and the images of African animals commemorate the legacy of Africa in cultural items significant to the crusades.
The inscription naming the box's owner (Taurus) features a long-horned African gazelle. The gazelle here is alone, but it is near depictions of lions, for whom the gazelle would serve as prey. The depiction of predators and prey attests to a tradition of exotic animals often associated with the hunt and the pleasures of the princely life. Not only was this box a demonstration of elite status through its connection to literacy, but the exotic animals also suggest worldliness through travel and trade. The designs on the ivory featuring birds of prey, gazelles, and lions against the detailed background compare well to Egyptian wood carvings of the Fatimid period.
Each animal is aligned in perfect symmetry, a style of design that was popularized in Islamic art. The cranes on this piece are quite literally intertwined, while the boars demonstrate closeness by holding the same intertwined object. The naturalistic leaf background on this object also helps to contextualize these animals in their own natural habitat while being made from ivory, created from another animal that lived in Africa, the elephant.