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North African Archer on the Reliquary Casket of Saint Dominic of Silos, Cuenca, 1026AD
Casket: Cuenca 1026 (dated A.H. 417)
Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos)
Ivory and wood, with gilt-copper and champlevé enamel mounts
19x 34 x 21cm
Museo de Burgos (106)
A truncated pyramidal cover surmounts this rectangular casket, which was originally composed entirely of ivory panels attached to a wooden core. However, the box has been damaged, and the areas sustaining losses have been replaced with enamel decoration.
A band with an inscription in floriated Kufic runs along the top of the left and right sides of the casket but is missing from the front and back, where it is replaced by enamel decoration. It reads;
… enduring for its owner, "May God prolong his life" From among that which was made in the city of Cu[enca] … [in the year] four hundred seventeen [A.D. 1026]. The work of Muhammad ibn Zayyan, his servant; may God grant him renown.
Source: pp273-276 The Art of Medieval Spain AD 500-1200, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
