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Coronation of the Virgin thumbnail 2
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Coronation of the Virgin

Panel
ca. 1400 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This miniature relief depicting the Coronation of the Virgin was probably made in about 1400, in France, probably Paris. The ivory relief is mounted in a gilt-copper and mother-of-pearl case with a rock crystal front. The case is hinged and has a ring on the upper edge, to allow to be hung on a cord or fine chain. Acquired as English, this origin is not persuasive. The carving is not of the highest quality, but it is sufficiently close to other French micro-carvings which have convincingly been placed in the first two decades of the fifteenth century. The iconographic type of the Coronation of the Virgin was particularly popular in France in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.

These miniature ivory reliefs should be viewed in the same light as their kleinplastik counterparts in precious metals and enamel. And the later pieces, from the second half of the fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, are also often comparable to works in other materials, such as the more numerous mother-of-pearl roundels. Both drew on the same graphic sources and brought sacred images into the possession of the pious.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCoronation of the Virgin (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved elephant ivory mounted in a gilt-copper and mother-of-pearl case with rock crystal front
Brief description
Relief (miniature), ivory, in a gilded metal case, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, France (probably Paris), about 1400
Physical description
Ivory relief depicting the Coronation of the Virgin. The Virgin and Christ, both crowned, are seated on a draped throne; with clasped hands to the left of Christ, who, holding an orb in his left hand raises his right in benediction towards her. An angel holds back a drapery on either side. Within a crystal and gilded copper case, with a mother of pearl back. The case is hinged and has a ring on the upper edge, to allow to be hung on a cord or fine chain. The front is made of a semi-circular rock-crystal prism, the back of a plaque of mother-of-pearl.
Dimensions
  • Height: 3.4cm
  • Ivory only not including case width: 4.1cm
Object history
Purchased at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 20 February 1923, lot 81 (£13 13s); previous history not known.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This miniature relief depicting the Coronation of the Virgin was probably made in about 1400, in France, probably Paris. The ivory relief is mounted in a gilt-copper and mother-of-pearl case with a rock crystal front. The case is hinged and has a ring on the upper edge, to allow to be hung on a cord or fine chain. Acquired as English, this origin is not persuasive. The carving is not of the highest quality, but it is sufficiently close to other French micro-carvings which have convincingly been placed in the first two decades of the fifteenth century. The iconographic type of the Coronation of the Virgin was particularly popular in France in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.

These miniature ivory reliefs should be viewed in the same light as their kleinplastik counterparts in precious metals and enamel. And the later pieces, from the second half of the fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, are also often comparable to works in other materials, such as the more numerous mother-of-pearl roundels. Both drew on the same graphic sources and brought sacred images into the possession of the pious.

Bibliographic references
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929, Part II, p. 38
  • Leeuwenberg, Jaap. Early nineteenth-century Gothic ivories. Aachener Kunstblätter, 39, 1969, pp. 111-148
  • Cf. Prior, E. S., Gardner, A. An account of medieval figure-sculpture in England. Cambridge: University Press, 1912, p. 525, fig. 615
  • Review [1911-1938], Victoria & Albert Museum. Review of the Principal Acquisitions during the Year, London, 1923, p. 3, fig. 3
  • Koechlin, R., Les Ivoires gothiques français, 3 vols, Paris, 1924 (reprinted Paris 1968) I, p. 323, note 1
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014 part 1, p. 455
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, part 1, p. 455, cat. no. 156
Collection
Accession number
A.19-1923

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Record createdOctober 25, 2004
Record URL
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