Post Byzantine Adoration of the Magi Shell Plaque

17TH-18TH CENTURY A.D.

2 5/8 in. (30.2 grams, 68 mm).

Octagonal in plan with carved scene of the Adoration of the Magi with star above; stepped border, pierced for attachment.

Provenance

Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Literature

Cf. for similar plaques the ones adorning the covers of the Gospels in Popescu, G.A., Cristiani d'Oriente, spiritualità, arte e potere nell'Europa Post-Bizantina, Milano, 1999, fig.3.

Footnotes

The flat relief and the stylistic refinement of the images place the execution of the plaque towards the end of the 17th century, with some artistic parallels with the Romanian silversmiths of Chiprovatzi.

CONDITION

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LOT 2420