Wyvern Collection: Objects in Focus Volume 1

This book presents an in-depth examination of a singular medieval ivory casket known as the ‘Baird Casket’.

It is the first in a series of scholarly books to be produced by the Wyvern Research Institute. Each volume will be devoted to an individual object in the Wyvern Collection, one of the world’s pre-eminent private collections.

Combining art historical research with technical analysis, this new series captures the Wyvern Institute’s mission to stimulate new lines of investigation an disseminate fresh critical insights for a broad audience. Each monograph will highlight an intriguing or previously unpublished object in the Collection, opening a private collection up not only to researchers but also to the public. The Baird Casket is an extraordinary survival which was completely unknown to the public until shortly before its emergence on the art market in Edinburgh in 2021. Showing scenes of combat with wild men and their capture alongside carvings celebrating the power of the sword, it combines imagery that is unique amongst the corpus of surviving ivories with a remarkable provenance, which dates to the late 17th century. Williamson draws on his extensive expertise to present a complete examination of the casket, ranging from its history in the possession of the Baird family to its facture and interpretation. In doing so he presents a new reading of the scenes depicted and uncovers a possible identity of the original intended owner. The casket has only been published once previously in a 2022 journal article, making this more detailed discussion an exciting and valuable new contribution to the field of medieval studies. Furthermore, the analysis will be accompanied by full-page plates of the Baird Casket and numerous images of comparable objects, including a group of seven similar composite caskets, also making this the first time that all eight caskets will have been showcased together in a single publication.

Published by Paul Holberton Publishing