Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece

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The main patrons of ivory objects such as this pen box were powerful rulers such as Muslim caliphs, Latin or Byzantine emperors, and high-ranking ecclesiastics and noblemen, who took advantage of the ivory supply being imported from Africa. As we know, this box was owned by a powerful ducal (nobility) family in Italy. The earliest recorded history following the Mansone family is Baron Albert Oppenheim, who owned the object in the year 1900. The box was then purchased by J.P. Morgan's estate from 1906-13, and subsequently gifted to the Met in the year 1917. 

Many objects from the Crusades are often forgotten or displaced due to the vast geographic regions they were exchanged. Despite this pen box being displaced for many years following the Crusades, its own legacy and apparent influence of various cultures live on. 


 

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