
Part of the The Americas collection.

_Probably Mexico, 17th century_ _H. 12.5 x W. 16 x D. 7 cm_ Provenance: Private Collection, The Hague

_Jamaica, Port Royal, circa 1670-1680_ _H. 9.5 x W 25 x D 15.5 cm_ Attributed to Paul Bennett (act. 1670-1692) Provenance: - Private collection, South Africa (inherited from an ancestor stationed in Jamaica); thence by descent - Cape Town Antiques Trade - Private collector, Stellenbosch (acquired in the 1970s)

Until recently, these caskets were often classified as Spanish or Portuguese, but it has become clear that they were produced over a very wide geographic area under European patronage in workshops in India, Sri Lanka, Batavia, China, the Caribbean, Central and South America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Distinguishing regional characteristics are generally only found in the type of decoration of the mounts. In this case, it seems that the masks from which the handles are suspended and the engravings on the further mounts point towards the Americas.