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Our Lady of Boulogne

Pax
15th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is an ivory pax, made in France (Paris or probably Dieppe) in about 1500 or the nineteenth century. A radiocarbon test carried out in 2013, obtained a date of 1448-1631 with a 95.4% degree of probability, but doubts remain. There is the possibility that the pax was not intended as a forgery but as an honest neo-Gothic pax made in the mid-nineteenth century, following the revival of the cult of the Virgin of Boulogne in the years before.

The image represents Nôtre Dame de Boulogne, a miraculous and miracle-working statue of the Virgin and Child said by popular legend to have appeared off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in the seventh century and to have been widely venerated in the eponymous church in Boulogne until the French Revolution, when it was destroyed.

A pax is a tablet or board, sometimes of silver, usually decorated with a Christian religious representation. A pax was used at the end of mass as part of the ‘Kiss of Peace’ ritual after the Angus Dei. First the priest would kiss the tablet, then the members of the congregation. England was precocious in introducing the pax, but references abound elsewhere from the beginning of the fourteenth century onwards. Paxes could be made from many materials, including wood, copper, silver and gold, as well as ivory.
The earliest, fourteenth-century, examples are invariably decorated with the Crucifixion, but the imagery rapidly diversified to take in other scenes connected with the Christ’s Passion and Sacrifice. By the fifteenth century the choice had expanded, with many scenes of the Virgin and Child.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleOur Lady of Boulogne (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Elephant ivory
Brief description
Pax, ivory, our Lady of Boulogne (Nôtre Dame de Boulogne), France (Paris or Dieppe), about 1500 or 19th century
Physical description
The Virgin standing in a fully rigged ship, at the bow and stern of which are angels playing trumpets. Above her three angels bear a crown and two further angels lean out from the crow's nest, their hands joined in prayer. She is offering a rose to the Infant Christ. At each side two slender columns. Border with roses.
Dimensions
  • Height: 13.3cm
  • At base width: 8.6cm
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
From the Salting bequest, 1910 (no. 2232).
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is an ivory pax, made in France (Paris or probably Dieppe) in about 1500 or the nineteenth century. A radiocarbon test carried out in 2013, obtained a date of 1448-1631 with a 95.4% degree of probability, but doubts remain. There is the possibility that the pax was not intended as a forgery but as an honest neo-Gothic pax made in the mid-nineteenth century, following the revival of the cult of the Virgin of Boulogne in the years before.

The image represents Nôtre Dame de Boulogne, a miraculous and miracle-working statue of the Virgin and Child said by popular legend to have appeared off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in the seventh century and to have been widely venerated in the eponymous church in Boulogne until the French Revolution, when it was destroyed.

A pax is a tablet or board, sometimes of silver, usually decorated with a Christian religious representation. A pax was used at the end of mass as part of the ‘Kiss of Peace’ ritual after the Angus Dei. First the priest would kiss the tablet, then the members of the congregation. England was precocious in introducing the pax, but references abound elsewhere from the beginning of the fourteenth century onwards. Paxes could be made from many materials, including wood, copper, silver and gold, as well as ivory.
The earliest, fourteenth-century, examples are invariably decorated with the Crucifixion, but the imagery rapidly diversified to take in other scenes connected with the Christ’s Passion and Sacrifice. By the fifteenth century the choice had expanded, with many scenes of the Virgin and Child.
Bibliographic references
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929, p. 44
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 95
  • Koechlin, R., Les Ivoires gothiques français, 3 vols, Paris, 1924 (reprinted Paris 1968) I, p. 334, note 8
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014 part 1, pp. 408-409
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, part 1, pp. 408-409, cat. no. 144
Collection
Accession number
A.569-1910

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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