Footed tazza with cover painted in grisaille enamels on copper with scenes from the Book of Exodus, Jean Court, Limoges, France, ca.1555-60.

The footed tazza with urn-like stem knop is painted in grisaille enamels with delicately hatched flesh-pink highlights and gilding. Its domed lid has a small loop handle of twisted and gilded metal, possibly bronze, surrounded by a cast rosette of leaves. This handle is loosely fitted so may have been a replacement. It is anchored under the lid with a small flower-like stud in the centre of which is a tiny red gemstone or paste. The lid is decorated with two scenes from the Bible: the Overthrow of Pharoah (Exodus chapter 14) and the Song of Moses and the Israelites (Exodus chapter 15). The scenes are separated by the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire by means of which God led the Israelites by day and night respectively. Pursuing the Israelites, Pharoah and his army crossed the Red Sea which God had parted, whereupon the waters closed in upon the Egyptians who all drowned. Moses led the Israelites in a song of praise to God. The main scene is surrounded by a band of gilded interlaced foliate decoration and an outer band of simple gilded floral decoration between which is a wide band of white painted leaves and fruit.

On the inside of the lid which is decorated with gilded foliate interlacing on a dark ground are four white rimmed oval medallions in each of which is painted a classical portrait bust against a dark ground dotted in gold. Two are male and face to the right (proper left); two are female facing to the left (proper right), with male and female alternating. One of the males and one of the females wear laurel wreaths on their heads. The whole is surrounded by a band of long white leaves bound in two places and interspersed with fruit in two places. There is then an outer ring of gilded S-scrolls.

Inside the tazza bowl is a depiction of the Gathering of the Manna as described in Exodus chapter 16. The design source has not yet been identified. Having left captivity in mainland Egypt and after crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites are said to have wandered through the Sinai peninsula through wilderness and desert for forty years before they settled in Canaan. During this time, they breakfasted on Manna, a miraculously-supplied foodstuff described as being like thin frost-flakes which looked the colour of coriander seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey. Between this scene and the white painted rim is a band of gilded interlaced foliate decoration.

The outside of the tazza is decorated with a ring of leaves nearest the stem, then four grotesque masks between wreaths of foliage and assemblages of fruit over strapwork. One mask has horns, large ears and hollow eyes. Another with moustache and spectacles has long curly horns bearing swags of drapery. The third is a male face with a crown. The last is a bearded male face with coronet. All spew gilded formal foliage from their mouths. Next is a band of gilded interlaced foliate ornament followed by a broad band of bound leaves and fruit painted white. The edge is finished with thin black, gold and white lines. The stem and foot are decorated with masks, strapwork, term figures, large leaves, festoons of fruit and gilded S-scrolls. The tazza bowl appears to have been re-attached to the stem at a later date as the centre of the Gathering of the Manna scene is obscured by a fixing. This consists of a central metal stud set with glass cut to a stretched octagon shape. The glass seems to have traces of decayed silvering beneath. There is a metal mount decorated with leaves beneath the urn-shaped knop which is probably nineteenth century, as is the large metal (croix pattée alésée arrondie -shaped) plate and bolt under the foot which with the tazza stud, hold the stem in place. It is possible that the stem and foot were from the same workshop as the tazza but made at a later date.

Bequeathed by John Jones

The identity of the master enameller variously signing his work 'Jean Court', 'Jean de Court', 'Jean Court dit Vigier', or by the initials 'I.C.', 'IDC' and 'ICDV' has caused confusion for many years. Some hold him to be one and the same man while archival sources indicate that there may have been two or even three separate enamellers working in Limoges with variations of this name during the second half of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Whether they all collaborated in one single workshop founded by Jean Court dit Vigier is unclear. The enameller of this tazza who has signed his work J. Court dit Vigier was active ca.1555-85, carrying out technically proficient work which was aesthetically precise and attractive. Notable are his fine draughtsmanship, good depth of field and delicate rendering of skin tone. He also produced polychrome portrait masterpieces for the court in Paris. The name Vigier is the French version of the Latin 'vicarius', indicating that he was a magistrate or judge representing the viscount of Limousin in Limoges. He has been equated with the highly-regarded and well-renumerated artist who became court painter to Charles IX and was possibly also the same man who was painter to Charles Bourbon, Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon in 1553 and to the widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, 1562-67. The poet Jacques Blanchon praised this painter in an ode of 1583. During his frequent visits to the French court, his workshop probably continued to produce additional versions of his most successful designs such as the body of accomplished grisaille work in a highly decorative Mannerist style. Like several other Limoges enamellers, he specialised in elaborate services for display on buffets or shelves in rooms such as private cabinets. His workshop may have been continued after his death.

Limoges, central France, was famous for the production of champleve enamels from the late 12th century until the town was destroyed by the Black Prince in 1370. The enamel industry began to revive about a century later but the technique of painted enamels produced from 1460s/70s was quite different from the earlier medieval work. The copper, probably from Spanish mines, was hammered to thin sheets. The tazza would originally have been formed from at least two separate copper sections hammered to shape and joined together. It would then have been coated with enamel (a mix of powdered glass known as flux and metallic oxides) front and back. The design was outlined on the dark ground colour, then the image built up with a brush and spatula. Grisaille was created by varying the thickness of the white enamel to allow the dark enamel beneath to show through to a greater or lesser extent. A delicate pinkish coloured enamel has been added last. The piece might be fired several times, with gilding which needed the lowest temperature, done last. Apart from artistic skill, there was immense technical skill, perfected through careful experimentation, in producing the correct colour and shade required and a smooth correct consistency of enamel powder. The result, after much time and labour, had to be as free of bubbles, defects, specks of dirt and cracks as possible.

Display rather than food use.

This covered footed dish or tazza was made in Limoges in central France in the 1550s. Painted in enamels on copper, it depicts scenes from the Biblical book of Exodus, chapters 14 to 16. In contrast, the underneath of the dish is decorated with strapwork and grotesque masks deriving from French print sources which were themselves inspired by Italianate decoration commissioned for the royal palace of Fontainebleau. The work is signed by the master enameller Jean Court who was known as 'Vigier' indicating he was a magistrate representing the viscount of Limousin in the city of Limoges. This artist excelled in the grisaille technique whereby the dark enamel base layer was allowed to show through successive applications of white enamel to a greater or lesser extent to achieve tonality. Each application was separately fired, demanding great care. Perfect results were only achievable by the gradual accrual of knowledge through extensive experimentation. Jean Court was a skilled draughtsman who used white and flesh-pink enamel judiciously to create delicate shading and the impression of depth of field. Such dishes were designed to be displayed by their owners on buffets or shelves in rooms such as private cabinets.

Limoges was famous for the production of champlevé enamels from the late 12th century until 1370 when the city was destroyed by the Black Prince. From the 1460s, the enamel industry began to revive but this time the technique used was that of painting in enamels which was quite different from the earlier medieval work.

855&A-1882