Manuscript Cutting thumbnail 1
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Manuscript Cutting

ca. 1480 (illuminated)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In the 19th century the South Kensington Museum gathered examples of illumination for students to copy. This was a new kind of collection. It was unlike the encyclopedic historic collections of the British Museum or the Bodleian Library in Oxford. From the beginning, the Museum tended to buy ready-made collections. This example is from a portfolio of cuttings from an Italian choirbook. The Museum bought it from J. & W. Boone in 1866 for £15.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Water-based pigments, gilding and ink on parchment
Brief description
Cut-out foliate ornament. Italy. Late 15th century, attributed to Domenico Morone. A duplicate number MS.1168 was assigned to this object in error and was subsequently cancelled.
Physical description
Specimen of a manuscript
Dimensions
  • Height: 220mm
  • Width: 60mm
Gallery label
Fragmented Illuminations: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Cuttings at the V&A, 08/09/2021 - 26/06/2022, rooms 88A-90



Cut-out border ornaments, from a Franciscan choirbook
Attributed to Domenico Morone (about 1442 – after 1518)
Verona, Italy, about 1500
Ink, gold, watercolour and bodycolour on parchment

Museum nos. 4918:1-9
Historical context
Data taken from notes compiled by Rowan Watson. The full text of the entry is as follows:

'335.3
4918.2 (MS 1168)
CHOIR BOOK?
Cut-out foliate ornament

Italy. Late 15th century
220 x 60 mm.

From an album containing 4916-4928 bought for £15 from J & W Boone, 1866'
Subject depicted
Summary
In the 19th century the South Kensington Museum gathered examples of illumination for students to copy. This was a new kind of collection. It was unlike the encyclopedic historic collections of the British Museum or the Bodleian Library in Oxford. From the beginning, the Museum tended to buy ready-made collections. This example is from a portfolio of cuttings from an Italian choirbook. The Museum bought it from J. & W. Boone in 1866 for £15.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Watson, Rowan. Educators, Collectors, Fragments and the "Illuminated" Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Nineteenth Century. In: Linda L. Brownrigg and Margaret M. Smith, eds. Interpreting and Collecting Fragments of Medieval Books. Los Altos Hills: Anderson Lovelace; London: Red Gull Press, 2000. pp. 21-46, ill. ISBN 0962637262 (hbk); 0962637270 (pbk). p. 26, fig. 2
Collection
Accession number
4918:2

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Record createdFebruary 25, 2004
Record URL
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