Sicilian Ivory Pyxis, 12th century

Pyxis with hunters.
12th century.
Sicily.
Ivory with painted and gilded decoration; hinges: copper alloy.

The decoration – two hunters, one with a falcon on his wrist, the other with a crouching cheetah – illustrates two forms of hunt which were later passed on to the West, probably via Spain. The oriental motif of facing peacocks with intertwined necks dates back to antiquity.
Louvre Museum MAO 441, Paris, Department of Islamic Art.

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