Writing tablet

Bone writing tablet, decorated with a Nativity scene. The Virgin Mary is shown lying in bed with a swaddled baby Jesus on her right side. Above her stands the figure of Joseph and an angel holding a scroll. The scene is topped by an architectural canopy. There are traces of red pigment in the background of the scene and in the spandrels of the canopy. The reverse is recessed to contain the wax for writing in. Tablets of ivory or wood with wax-filled compartments were used as handy notebooks for the ephemeral jottings of the day. The tablets, often as many as six, were laced together with strips of leather or parchment in the form of a book. Those on the outside provided a protective cover and the exterior surfaces were often embellished with figurative or geometric carvings. Biblical scenes, figures of saints or secular images of courtly love and leisure pursuits were popular. The tablets were housed in special travelling cases of leather and the notes were scribed into the wax with a bone or metal stylus.