Goa Stone and Gold Case

A small bird stands on top of the case, above a tangle of gold leaves, flowers and fantastic animals. Open spaces between the motifs let you see through parts of the shell. A seam around its middle divides the egg-shaped container into two halves. Spend a moment separating the different kinds of metalwork. Some forms rise above the surface, while others leave openings right through it. Small projecting feet lift the body off its base. Around the middle band, tiny flowers and animals fit between larger borders. The case combines forms associated with Portuguese trade and European imagery. The precious wrapping protected a Goa stone, a manufactured compound of organic and inorganic materials. Its name connects that history with Goa. People scraped portions into liquid and swallowed them as a remedy. Dating from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, the object preserves both an elaborate container and the material that people once kept inside it.