Benaki Museum CLOSE UPS: a 13th-century casket from Mosul

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In this video from the Benaki Museum’s CLOSE UPS series, Mina Moraitou, curator of the Museum’s Islamic art collection, discusses a rare 1220 brass casket from Iraq’s Mosul.

The casket is richly decorated with silver and gold, a technique intended to elevate its worth from a humble, utilitarian object, to one of great value and luxury. Additionally, it comes inscribed with the name of both its creator – Ismail Ibn-Ward al-Mawsili, and the name of the latter’s teacher – Ibrahim al-Mawaliya.

The rare item was purchased by the Museum’s founder, Antonis Benakis in Cairo, in 1924, and was first displayed in 1925, at an inaugural exhibition of Islamic artworks, in Egypt.

Today, the Islamic art collections of the Benaki Museum are housed in a complex of neo-classical buildings, located in Athen’s Kerameikos district.

The Museum’s CLOSE UPS series present the unique histories and people behind the works housed in its various collections.

View the original video here.

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