Not currently on display at the V&A

The Holy Family with St Anne, St Elizabeth and the infant St John the Baptist

Plaque
ca. 1840 - ca. 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Italy (made)

This rectangular ivory plaque is engraved and inked in with a depiction of the Holy Family with St Anna, St Elizabeth and the infant St John the Baptist. The composition is probably loosely based on a sixteenth-century engraved source, but in style it is clumsy, and is almost certainly a nineteenth-century fake.


Object details

Categories
Plaques & Plaquettes
Christianity
Religion
Fakes & Forgeries
Object type
Plaque
TitleThe Holy Family with St Anne, St Elizabeth and the infant St John the Baptist (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ivory, engraved and inked in
Ivory
Engraving
Brief description
Plaque, ivory, the Holy Family with St Anne, St Elizabeth and the infant St John the Baptist, probably Italian, (forgery in 16th century style) of ca. 1840-1850
Physical description
This plaque is engraved and inked in with with the subject of the Holy Family with St Anne, St Elizabeth, and the infant St John the Baptist.
Dimensions
  • Height: 11.8cm
  • Width: 7.7cm
Object history
Bought in 1855 in London (vendor unrecorded).
Production
Was first inventorised as Italian, 16th century.
Subjects depicted
Holy Family
St Anne
St Elizabeth
St John the Baptist
Summary
This rectangular ivory plaque is engraved and inked in with a depiction of the Holy Family with St Anna, St Elizabeth and the infant St John the Baptist. The composition is probably loosely based on a sixteenth-century engraved source, but in style it is clumsy, and is almost certainly a nineteenth-century fake.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1855. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 67
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929 p. 123
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013 p. 455
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929, p. 123
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, p. 455, cat. no. 503
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
1510-1855

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O349396/the-holy-family-with-st-plaque-unknown/
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