Crucifixion with the Virgin and saint John the Evangelist; sun and moon; angels crying in the spandrels.
Koechlin 1924: French, 2nd half of the 14th century.
New York 1970: France, 2nd half of the 14th century.
Museum's opinion 2012: France (Paris?), 2nd quarter 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Traces of two missing hinges on the left side.
Reverse
Hidden by the wooden backing. Label with handwritten inscription: 'From Gabrieli Egidi, Florence, Received May 1910'. Labels with partly legible inscriptions: 'Oggetti d'arte e di antichita', 'Dogana di Firenze, 11 Mar.'. Red inscription: '203'.
Object Condition
Deep vertical crack. Repair around the upper hinge.
Comments
The ivory panel has been inserted in a frame of repoussé copper gilt combined with a border of gilt copper decorated with enamel, in order to form the front of a book cover. The metalwork is 14th century and probably slightly later than the ivory.
Provenance
Collection of Anton Josef Essingh (b. 1787, d. 1864), Cologne: his sale, Heberle, 18 September 1865, lot 852. Emden collection, Hamburg. Collection of Eugene Félix, Leipzig: his sale, Cologne, 25 October 1886, lot 320. Ruhl collection. Collection of J. Pierpont Morgan (d. 1913), London and New York; estate of J. Pierpont Morgan (1913-1917); gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.
Please note that the order of the provenance has not been checked.
Bibliography
A. Schnütgen, Elfenbeinrelief in Metallfassung als Buchdeckel, Zeitschrift für christliche Kunst, no. 4 (1891), p. 331.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 195, 202, 220; II, no. 555bis.
The Middle Ages. Treasures from the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, exhibition catalogue, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970, no. 70.
Les Fastes du Gothique: le siècle de Charles V, ed. by F. Baron, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Grand Palais, 1981, p. 198, in relation to no. 159.
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