the Nativity and the Adoration
Writing Tablet Leaf
1350-1400 (made)
1350-1400 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This ivory plaque from a set of writing tablets is made in about 1350-1400 in France. It represents the Nativity, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi.
Ivory covers for writing tablets survive in good numbers from the fourteenth century. Wax writing tablets or panels of a hard material filled with layers of wax that could be inscribed with a stylus, were common in Antiquity and continued in use throughout the early Middle Ages.
They were particularly useful for note taking, given their portability and the fact that their surfaces could be erased and reused.
The majority of such tablets would have been made of wood, although other materials such as gold, silver, bone and ivory were also used. In most cases the tablets formed part of a group of up to eight panels, only the covers of which were carved with imagery on their outer faces. The imagery on most surviving tablets and boxes derives primarily from diptychs, with a quality of carving lower than that commonly found on diptychs, at least partly as a result of the thinner ivory material on the tablets.
Ivory covers for writing tablets survive in good numbers from the fourteenth century. Wax writing tablets or panels of a hard material filled with layers of wax that could be inscribed with a stylus, were common in Antiquity and continued in use throughout the early Middle Ages.
They were particularly useful for note taking, given their portability and the fact that their surfaces could be erased and reused.
The majority of such tablets would have been made of wood, although other materials such as gold, silver, bone and ivory were also used. In most cases the tablets formed part of a group of up to eight panels, only the covers of which were carved with imagery on their outer faces. The imagery on most surviving tablets and boxes derives primarily from diptychs, with a quality of carving lower than that commonly found on diptychs, at least partly as a result of the thinner ivory material on the tablets.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | the Nativity and the Adoration (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Elephant ivory |
Brief description | Plaque, ivory, from a set of writing tablets, the Nativity and the Adoration, French, 1350-1400 |
Physical description | Leaf of writing tablet, ivory, representing Nativity and Adoration of the Magi. The front of the plaque is divided into two registers, each of which is topped by a row of three trefoil arches; the borders are plain, and a simple trefoil ornament has been added in the interstices on either side of the central arch. Above is a Nativity scene combined in the usual manner with the Annunciation to the Shepherds, and the lower register shows the Adoration of the Magi. |
Dimensions |
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Object history | Previously in the Hearn collection, Menton; it was probalby acquired after the death of Alfred Williams Hearn (1842-1903) by his widow Ellen Hearn. Given by Mrs Hearn in 1923. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | This ivory plaque from a set of writing tablets is made in about 1350-1400 in France. It represents the Nativity, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi. Ivory covers for writing tablets survive in good numbers from the fourteenth century. Wax writing tablets or panels of a hard material filled with layers of wax that could be inscribed with a stylus, were common in Antiquity and continued in use throughout the early Middle Ages. They were particularly useful for note taking, given their portability and the fact that their surfaces could be erased and reused. The majority of such tablets would have been made of wood, although other materials such as gold, silver, bone and ivory were also used. In most cases the tablets formed part of a group of up to eight panels, only the covers of which were carved with imagery on their outer faces. The imagery on most surviving tablets and boxes derives primarily from diptychs, with a quality of carving lower than that commonly found on diptychs, at least partly as a result of the thinner ivory material on the tablets. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | CIRC.499-1923 |
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Record created | June 24, 2009 |
Record URL |
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