A SILVER-MOUNTED CYLINDRICAL IVORY PYXIDE

The form of this small pyxide is very similar to that of other Siculo-Arabic small caskets attributed to Islamic ivory carvers working in Sicily during the 12th century (for a related example see Riyadh, op. cit., pp. 196-7, no. 173). Many such caskets have painted details which illustrate their clear Islamic origins, such as one example in the Louvre painted with a kufic inscription around the cover (Paris, loc. cit.). The present example is unusual in that its mounts are of silver rather than the gilt-copper normally encountered.