Object (Roses des Vents) by Joseph Cornell, c. 1942-53. Construction, 2⅝ x 21¼ x 10⅜ inches. The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY.

The term roses des vents is French for a compass dial. The box contains German maps of the Coral Sea and the Great Australian Bight on the inner lid. Inside the box is a panel that is fitted with numerous compasses, which is removable. Underneath that panel is a series of several smaller compartments that contain maps, diagrams of the constellations, shells, marbles, spirals, a beetle, and paper fish. The box is similar in construction to eighteenth-century medicine chests or Victorian parlor games, which were filled with the small objects that Cornell loved.

The title for the construction was the French writer Philippe Soupault who wrote a volume of poetry called Roses des Vents in 1920. Cornell and Soupault met sometime after the second world war when Soupault travels to the United States. Thus the phrase has a double-meaning. As a compass rose it is a symbol of the solar system, while its usage is Cornell’s tribute to Soupault.