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Statuette - Virgin and Child

Virgin and Child

  • Object:

    Statuette

  • Place of origin:

    England, Great Britain (probably, made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1400 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Elephant ivory

  • Museum number:

    202-1867

  • Gallery location:

    Sculpture, room 111, case 9

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Throughout the ages artists and craftsmen have made virtuoso carvings as a display of their skill and ingenuity. Although ivory, wood and stone are relatively easy to carve, other materials such as gemstones are much more demanding. Most of these carvings were made for wealthy patrons and collectors, who delighted in the rarity of the material and quality of the carving. Parisian workshops made Gothic ivories of the Virgin and Child in large numbers for private devotional use. These carvings were often set into tabernacles made of precious metal, or placed in the centre of a triptych or polytych. This figure was probably made in England by a sculptor imitating French examples.

Physical description

Ivory statuette of the Virgin and Child. The Virgin, seated on a wide cushioned bench, holds on her right knee the seated Child, who looks up at her and clasps a fold of her veil and a bird in His left hand; the Virgin's left hand is on His knee.

Place of Origin

England, Great Britain (probably, made)

Date

ca. 1400 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Elephant ivory

Dimensions

Height: 7.125 in, Width: 4.375 in

Object history note

From the Webb Collection. Formerly in the Hertz Collection (Sale, Sotheby's, March, 1857, No.238)

Descriptive line

Ivory, English, ca. 1400

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1867. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868., p. 12.
Porter, D. A. [PhD Dissertation] Ivory Carving in Later Medieval England 1200-1400. State University of New York, Binghampton, 1974. cat. no. 54.
Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929. Part II. p. 7.
Brown, F. P. London Sculpture. London: Sir I. Pitman & Sons, ltd., 1934. p. 34.

Exhibition History

Europäische Kunst um 1400 (Kunsthistorisches Museum 07/05/1962-31/07/1962)
European Art around 1400 (Kunsthistorisches Museum 07/05/1962-31/07/1962)

Production Note

Previously considered to be French.

Materials

Ivory

Subjects depicted

Mary (Virgin Mary); Bird; Jesus Christ

Categories

Sculpture; Christianity

Collection code

SCP

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Qr_O88207
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