Casket (part of a toilet service) 1683 - 1684

This silver casket, part of a toilet service, was created by William Fowle, who died in 1684. The overall impression is of a meticulously crafted object, its octagonal form softened by the delicate, engraved decoration covering its surfaces. The linear quality of the engraved flora and fauna contrasts with the solid geometry of the casket itself. This tension between form and decoration is critical to the piece's effect. The engravings teem with life, yet they are rigidly contained within the casket's contours. We might consider how the object relates to the structuralist idea of binary opposites: order versus chaos, nature versus artifice. The casket’s very function, to contain and organize personal items, reflects a desire to impose structure on the messy realities of daily life. Note how the reflective surface of the silver interacts with light, constantly altering the casket's appearance and blurring the boundaries between object and environment. The Casket, therefore, exists not as a static entity but as a dynamic interplay of form, surface, and light.