Saint George and the dragon; sword; spear.
Base: birds (phoenixes) on branches, holding the letter 'M' in their beak. Engraved shields: at the front, coat of arms of the Fugger family, Augsburg; on the left, coat of arms of the Neumair family of Augsburg; on the right, at the saint's heel, unidentified coat of arms with the head of a wild boar, a bear or a lion.
Longhurst 1929: 19th century, in a 15th-century German style.
Williamson and Davies 2014: South German (Augsburg), about 1490.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive polychromy and gilding.
Reverse
Carved in the round.
Comments
The triangular base is supported by three eagles perched on branches; at each angle of the pedestal is a shield bearing the arms of the Fugger family of Augsburg (Longhurst 1929).
According to Williamson (Williamson and Davies 2014), the birds are more probably phoenixes.
Provenance
Probably commissioned by Georg Fugger (b. 1453, d. 1506), Augsburg (Fugger coat of arms on the base). Letter 'M' in phoenixes' beaks may refer to Fugger's son Marcus (b. 1488). Base may include coat of arms of Fugger's wife, Regina Imhof (Imhof coat of arms has the head of a lion, could be the shield to the back). Hollingworth Magniac collection, Colworth, Bedfordshire, by 1862: sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, 5 July 1892, lot 261; collection of George Salting, London: bequeathed to the museum in 1910.
Bibliography
J. C. Robinson, Notice of the Principal Works of Art in the Collection of Hollingworth Magniac, Esq., of Colworth (London, 1862), no. 170.
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), cat. no. 8020.
'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)', In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture), (London, 1910).
M. Longhurst, Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2 vols (London, 1927 and 1929), II (1929), p. 128.
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 32.
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