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LOT 0398
Pair of Bronze Liturgical Fans
GREECE, 17TH-18TH CENTURY A.D.
25 1/4 in. (3.45 kgs total, 64.2 cm each including base).
Each composed of a stem with wooden handle and tapering white metal stem with bulbous collar, all ornamented with repoussé floral and foliate tendrils and seraphims; the bifacial discoid heads with scalloped circumferences, each with five domed bosses and displaying seraphims and stars within pellet and bead borders; lettering to heads and collars; each mounted on a custom-made display stand. [No Reserve]
Provenancewith Boisgirard, 28 November 2013, lot 138.
Ex central London gallery.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.202063.
Cf. Brooklyn Museum, New York, inv.nos. 46.126.1 and 46.126.2, illustrated in New York, 2012, pp.72-3, nos.44A,B.
FootnotesThe shape and decorative scheme of these liturgical fans has existed since at least the 8th century A.D. These fans were likely crafted as souvenirs for pilgrims returning from Jerusalem, or for them to bring to Jerusalem as homage to the church. Seraphim are the highest-ranking angels in the traditional hierarchy, and as such are closest to God.
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AUCTIONS:
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Opening Bid: £80
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Fine condition.
Acquired in London in 1985. Property of a Kent gentleman. -
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Circa 17th-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising glazes of different colours and designs, including geometric motifs, wild animals, flowering plants, figural scenes and buildings in landscapes. 5.8 kg total, 13 x 13 - 13 x 13.5 cm
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Post Medieval Opus Anglicanum Embroidery
England, 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
Preserved as the binding for a 'book of common prayers, and administration of the sacraments', in an embroidered stumpwork binding, the front cover showing Saint Anne, Mary and the Child, the back cover with a large floral design; the folio text with some handwritten amendations, title page printed in red and black. 2.75 kg, 38.7 cm
Emil Offenbacher and Cornelius J. Hauck, with his ex libris beneath an elaborate hand-coloured early armorial bookplate. Ex Cultured Oyster Books, 2007. Ex central London gallery. Accompanied by a previous catalogue page, listed as no.10.
Stumpwork is sometimes called 'raised work' and is an embroidery style in which the stitched figures are raised from the surface creating a three-dimensional effect. Historically, this type of embroidery, here probably made for an ecclesiastical vestment, was employed to decorated a variety of secular household artefacts and reached its greatest popularity by the second half of the 17th century A.D. Embroidered folio bindings are fairly uncommon.
