Register 1: the prodigal son is given the job of minding a swineherd; tree; pigs. Prodigal son returns to his parents; prodigal son embraced by his father and given clothes by his mother.
Pointed trefoils.
Register 2: the prodigal son in a brothel, embracing a prostitute. Prodigal son chased away by the prostitutes when all his money is squandered.
Dalton 1909: French, 14th century.
Koechlin 1924: French, 1st half of 14th century.
Museum's opinion 2011: French, 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Reverse
Flat. Recessed to receive the wax, with a raised border. Central circular recess (crosshatched as if something was glued in this space).
Object Condition
Rubbed and worn. Pierced holes on either side halfway down the panel. Upper corners partly broken.
Provenance
Collection of Hugo Garthe: bought by the British Museum through Augustus Wollaston Franks, Hugo Garthe sale, J. M. Heberle (H. Lempertz' Söhne), 28 May 1877, Cologne.
Bibliography
O. M. Dalton, Catalogue of the Ivory Carvings of the Christian Era in the British Museum (London, 1909), no. 365, Pl. LXXXII.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 153, 436, 440; II, no. 1216; III, pl. CXCIX.
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