Gothic Ivories Project | Diptych-shaped openwork pendant (pendentif; ajouré) (Back, open)

Wing, left
Annunciation; Virgin emerging from a lily; kneeling monk in prayer in donor position.
Wing, right
Saint Christopher carrying the Christ child across the river; hermit in a cave.

Gaborit-Chopin 2003 and Museum's opinion 2010: France, 1st half of the 15th century.

Attribution
Unknown

Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding and polychromy.

Reverse
On outside, labelled: 'A. 42', '(S) N. 52'.

Object Condition
Missing: outer covering elements.
Scratches for glue on the metal background, behind the ivories (background plates perhaps restored, see report by M.-N. Meilhoas, 2002).
The two wings are hinged. The rod which kept the pendant closed has been lost.
Small chips on the metal mount.

Comments
The outer side of the pendant may have been covered in a thin sheet of crystal or semi-precious stone covering a small miniature (Gaborit-Chopin 2003).

Provenance
Acquired by the Museum from Mr Lemer, Compiègne, in 1858.

Bibliography
A. Sauzay, Musée de la Renaissance [Musée du Louvre]. Notice des ivoires (Paris, 1863), no. 42.
E. Molinier, Musée National du Louvre. Catalogue des ivoires (Paris, 1896), no. 126.
D. Gaborit-Chopin, Ivoires médiévaux, Ve-XVe siècle (Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2003), no. 239.

© Réunion des musées nationaux (RMN) - Jean-Gilles Berizzi.
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