This casket is made of tortoiseshell connected by vertical bands of silver mounts around the body. The lock, with a latch using the traditional motif of a lizard with a curled tail, is engraved with openwork leaves. The central plaque is engraved with flowers and a deer-like animal outlined with niello. The body of the casket is made of tortoiseshell, a highly prized exotic material. It took great skill to work the mottled shell of sea turtles: a laborious work that involved in cutting and heating the mottled shell to create thin, translucent panels then polished.The basic form of the casket is European. However, tortoiseshell objects were a specialty of Gujarat in western India, and they were greatly admired when they were first imported to Europe. Particularly in churches of Portugal, caskets of this type have been highly prized and have been used as reliquaries.
