Marble Viscera Box, Early 18th Century

A one-piece breccia marble and gilt bronze viscera box, opening with a single door revealing two basins, one of which is still lined with its lead. The side handles are carved from the same block. Attractive ornamentation of the chiseled bronze fittings. Damage to one rear corner, previously repaired. Dimensions: Height 15.8 cm, Length 23.5 cm, Width 12.8 cm. These boxes, rare today, were intended for the heart and other viscera of the deceased nobleman until their transfer to the sepulchrum in the chapel of the fief or castle. Afterwards, emptied of the lead receptacles, they were likely reused for another purpose; the Duke of Lorraine, father-in-law of Louis XV, a great pipe smoker, stored his tobacco in them! This is attested by a similar example in the Lorraine Historical Museum in Nancy. French work from the early 18th century. Provenance: Château de B.