Medieval Chrismatory with Limoges Panels

FRANCE, LIMOGES, CIRCA 1220 A.D.

5 3/4 in. (760 grams, 14.5 cm).

Inner wooden casket with chamfered rim and separate lid, encased within rectangular gilt-bronze panels with enamel decoration, four gilt-bronze stud feet to the underside; the lid with three nimbate figures, a female saint with palm frond and two flanking figures holding books, all reserved on a blue field with interstitial polychrome rosettes; Side A: nimbate bearded bust of Christ in Majesty with right hand in gesture of benison, left hand supporting a book, flanked by two winged nimbate angels; Side B: nimbate bust of a winged angel in a roundel; Side C: geometric repeating pattern of lozenges with floral fill; Side D: mirror image of Side B. [No Reserve]

Provenance

John Pierpont Morgan, New York, and London, until 1917.
Private collection, Suffolk.

Accompanied by a copy of a previous four page illustrated cataloguing document with references.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12039-212154.

Literature

Cf. Taburet-Delahaye, E., L'Œuvre de Limoges. Emaux limousins du Moyen Age, Pris, 1995; Wixom, W.D., Treasures from Medieval France, Cleveland, 1967, pp.130-3; Zarnecki, G., Holt, J. & Holland, T., English Romanesque Art 1066-1200, London, 1984, item 283, for type.

Footnotes

The two end-panels are believed to have been added at a later date than the longer panels and may have been trimmed slightly along the lower edges. The panels are attached with domed pins of various types.

CONDITION

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LOT 0422