Panel thumbnail 1
Panel thumbnail 2
+1
images
Not on display

Panel

ca. 1390-1410 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of five panels (A76 to A80-1919) from a casket or an altarpiece made at the workshop of Baldassare Embriachi (Ubriachi) in about 1390-1410 in North Italy, Florence or Venice. This panel depicts a shepherd and a young boy in a pastoral landscape, which was originally part of a scene depicting the story of Paris. The remaining plaques illustrate four of the ten biblical plagues of Egypt.
Embriachi plaques depicting the Old Testament are rare, and only one casket with Old Testament scenes is known.

The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s.
Baldassare Embriachi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433.

They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.

Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved bone
Brief description
Plaque, bone, shepherds in landscape, by the workshop of Baldassare Ubriachi, Northern Italian (Florence or Venice), ca. 1390-1410
Physical description
Bone panel from a casket, depicting a shepherd and a young boy standing in a pastoral landscape looking to the right. This wa soriginally part of a scene depicting the guardian Ageläus and the young Paris from the Story of Paris.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.2cm
  • Width: 3.5cm
Object history
In the collection of the architect Bernard H. Webb, Gosmore, ear Hitchin in Hertfordshire, before 1919; Webb had most likely acquired the panels in Italy, as other pieces in his collection were certainly bought from dealers in Florence and Siena (correspondence in Museum records); bequeathed by Webb in 1919. This plaque is one of five plaques that now form a whole and are set in a modern wooden frame. According to a note on the departmental record card, this was made in the Art Work Room of the Museum shortly after the plaques' acquisition.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is one of five panels (A76 to A80-1919) from a casket or an altarpiece made at the workshop of Baldassare Embriachi (Ubriachi) in about 1390-1410 in North Italy, Florence or Venice. This panel depicts a shepherd and a young boy in a pastoral landscape, which was originally part of a scene depicting the story of Paris. The remaining plaques illustrate four of the ten biblical plagues of Egypt.
Embriachi plaques depicting the Old Testament are rare, and only one casket with Old Testament scenes is known.

The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s.
Baldassare Embriachi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433.

They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Longhurst, Margaret H., Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929 pp. 66-67, pl. LXII
  • Tomasi, M. Monumenti d’Avorio. I dossali degli Embriachi e I loro committenti, Pisa, 2010, p. 273
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014 part II, pp. 760-1
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, part II, pp. 760-1, cat. no. 254
Collection
Accession number
A.76-1919

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest