"Segin" dolphin box

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"Segin" dolphin box

Andrea Cagnetti (Akelo) (Italian, born in 1967)

Italian

2009

Object Place: Italy

Medium/Technique Approximately 22 kt gold and sapphire

Dimensions Height x width: 1 3/16 x 1 9/16 in. (3 x 4 cm)
Circumference: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.)

Credit Line Gift of Dr. Robert Kelley, M.D.

Accession Number2009.5478

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsEurope, Contemporary Art

ClassificationsBoxes

DescriptionThis circular pixis is made from high-karat gold sheet and is decorated with twisted wires and tiny, granulated balls. These balls form a frieze on the lid made up of a leaping dolphin, a stylized bird, and a lioness. In the center of the lid is a knob with a claw-set sapphire cabochon. Other decorative elements include circles, triangles, rosettes, and petals in both filagree and "fine dust" granulation. Along the side of the box is another frieze composed of alternating small and large birds. According to the artist, the box "...harmoniously blends three aspects of nature: mineral (gold), vegetable (rosettes and petals), and animal (lioness, dolphin, and bird)."

Marks Akelo/09 (on lid)

Provenance2009, created by artist Andrea Cagnetti (Akelo), Viterbo, Italy; sold by the artist to Dr. Robert Kelley, Waltham, MA; 2009, year-end gift of Kelley to the MFA. (Accession date: January 20, 2010)