Seated Virgin and Child; Christ standing on the Virgin's left knee; Christ holding a fruit in his left hand; Christ holding a bird in his right hand; Virgin holding a stem of flowers in her right hand; Virgin trampling a monster (dragon) under her left foot.
Griggs 1904-1907: France, late 13th century.
Longhurst 1929: France, mid 14th century.
Williamson and Davies 2014: France (probably Paris), c. 1300-20.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding: gold (decoration along the hem of the Virgin's cloak).
Reverse
Carved in the round. Back of the throne curved and smooth.
Object Condition
Missing: upper part of the Virgin's head (maybe once including a crown), part of the Virgin's left knee, part of the Virgin's nose, part of the stem of flowers held by the Virgin, head and both hands of Christ (later replacements).
Deep crack at the front.
Vertical series of horizontal notches down the back of the Virgin.
Comments
Underside: crosshatching; central dowel hole.
Provenance
In the possession of John Webb (b. 1799, d. 1880), London, by 1862: purchased from him by the Museum in 1867.
Bibliography
Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Mediaeval, Renaissance, and more recent periods on loan at the South Kensington Museum, June 1862..., revised edition, exhibition catalogue (London, 1863), no. 102.
Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged according to the dates of their acquisition (London, 1868), I, p. 12.
W. Maskell, Ivories Ancient and Mediaeval in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1872), p. 77-78.
W. Griggs, Portfolio of Ivories [London, 1904-1907], pt. XXIII.
A. Maskell, Ivories (Connoisseurs Library), (London, 1905), p. 169 (incorrectly gives the inventory number for this piece when discussing 200-1867).
M. Longhurst, Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory, Victoria and Albert Museum, II (London, 1929), p. 30, pl. XXVIII.
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 8.
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