Plaque
ca. 1660 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This striking Limoges painted enamel plaque in its original ornate gilt-brass frame depicts a scene from mythology as told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD) in his celebrated 'Metamorphoses'. In the first book of this long poem, Ovid describes how Pan, god of woods, fields and flocks pursues the beautiful nymph Syrinx. On the point of grasping her, he finds that he is instead embracing reeds into which she has been metamorphosed. Pleased with the sound of the wind blowing through the reeds, he cuts several of different lengths to make a ‘syrinx’ or set of ‘pan’-pipes.
Master enameller Jacques Laudin (ca.1627-1695), known as Jacques I to distinguish him from his nephew Jacques II who inherited his Limoges workshop, took a 1589 print of an engraving by Hendrik Goltzius (1588-1617) as his design source for this plaque. The print was one of fifty-two illustrations to Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’. Made in about 1660, the enamel version is painted in ‘grisaille’, which usually means monochrome shades of grey, but in this case blue has been chosen. Shading is achieved by ‘enlevage’, the technique of scratching through upper layers of enamel to reveal a contrasting colour beneath. The work is enhanced with gilded detail.
The plaque was probably made as one of a set of two or more. A very similar plaque by the same enameller and mounted in a matching frame is in the Limoges enamel collection of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It depicts the story, again from Ovid, of Apollo pursuing Daphne. Both plaques also have small rings at the top of their frames by which they could be hung on a wall, most likely in a small semi-private room such as a library or closet. They might equally have been hung within a wooden cabinet, displayed with other small framed items such as portrait miniatures or mounted cameos.
Master enameller Jacques Laudin (ca.1627-1695), known as Jacques I to distinguish him from his nephew Jacques II who inherited his Limoges workshop, took a 1589 print of an engraving by Hendrik Goltzius (1588-1617) as his design source for this plaque. The print was one of fifty-two illustrations to Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’. Made in about 1660, the enamel version is painted in ‘grisaille’, which usually means monochrome shades of grey, but in this case blue has been chosen. Shading is achieved by ‘enlevage’, the technique of scratching through upper layers of enamel to reveal a contrasting colour beneath. The work is enhanced with gilded detail.
The plaque was probably made as one of a set of two or more. A very similar plaque by the same enameller and mounted in a matching frame is in the Limoges enamel collection of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It depicts the story, again from Ovid, of Apollo pursuing Daphne. Both plaques also have small rings at the top of their frames by which they could be hung on a wall, most likely in a small semi-private room such as a library or closet. They might equally have been hung within a wooden cabinet, displayed with other small framed items such as portrait miniatures or mounted cameos.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Enamel on copper, painted in <i>grisaille,</i>and with <i>enlevage</i> using a needle or sharp stylus, with gilded detail, in a stamped gilt brass frame. |
| Brief description | Enamel on copper, painted with a mythological scene of Pan pursuing Syrinx in grisaille with gilding on a blue ground, and mounted in a gilt brass frame, Jacques I Laudin, Limoges, France, about 1660. |
| Physical description | Rectangular copper plaque, painted in grisaille with enlevage achieved by the use of a fine stylus, and gilded details on a dark blue enamel ground. The mythological scene shows Pan, the Greek god of woods, fields and flocks, embracing reeds into which the nymph Syrinx has been metamorphosed. The river Ladon which had blocked Syrinx's escape is personified on the left as an old river-god, reclining on his urn. Pan, pleased with the sound of the wind blowing through the reeds, is said to have cut several to make a 'syrinx' or set of pipes ('pan-pipes'). The design source is one of the fifty-two prints published in 1589 from engravings by Hendrik Goltzius (Bartsch III, p.105, no.18) to the Metamorphoses of Ovid (Bk.I, vv.689-713). The plaque is mounted in an original gilt-brass frame. It is stamped in relief openwork witha design of palmettes, alternating right-way-up and upside-down. At the top is a hanging ring above a pierced ribbon-like decoration. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | Formerly in the Ralph Bernal Collection and bought by the South Kensington Museum (now V&A) at the sale, London, 5th March 1855 and following days, for £9 (lot 1547). Jacques I Laudin (ca.1627-1695) was a master enameller whose workshop in the Faubourg Magnine, Limoges, was in the parish of St. Maurice in the Cité. He worked there with his father Noël until the latter's death in 1681. As Jacques had no direct heir, the son of his brother Nicholas (also an enameller), who was known as Jacques II Laudin to distinguish him from his uncle, joined the Faubourg Magnine workshop in 1685 and took it over ten years later. |
| Summary | This striking Limoges painted enamel plaque in its original ornate gilt-brass frame depicts a scene from mythology as told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD) in his celebrated 'Metamorphoses'. In the first book of this long poem, Ovid describes how Pan, god of woods, fields and flocks pursues the beautiful nymph Syrinx. On the point of grasping her, he finds that he is instead embracing reeds into which she has been metamorphosed. Pleased with the sound of the wind blowing through the reeds, he cuts several of different lengths to make a ‘syrinx’ or set of ‘pan’-pipes. Master enameller Jacques Laudin (ca.1627-1695), known as Jacques I to distinguish him from his nephew Jacques II who inherited his Limoges workshop, took a 1589 print of an engraving by Hendrik Goltzius (1588-1617) as his design source for this plaque. The print was one of fifty-two illustrations to Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’. Made in about 1660, the enamel version is painted in ‘grisaille’, which usually means monochrome shades of grey, but in this case blue has been chosen. Shading is achieved by ‘enlevage’, the technique of scratching through upper layers of enamel to reveal a contrasting colour beneath. The work is enhanced with gilded detail. The plaque was probably made as one of a set of two or more. A very similar plaque by the same enameller and mounted in a matching frame is in the Limoges enamel collection of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It depicts the story, again from Ovid, of Apollo pursuing Daphne. Both plaques also have small rings at the top of their frames by which they could be hung on a wall, most likely in a small semi-private room such as a library or closet. They might equally have been hung within a wooden cabinet, displayed with other small framed items such as portrait miniatures or mounted cameos. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 2049:1, 2-1855 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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