Romance of the Châtelaine de Vergi.
Lid
Register 1: Courting couple (meeting of lovers); the Châtelaine secretly meets the knight; dog. Châtelaine discussing with the knight. The knight rejects the advances made by the Duchess of Burgundy; bed. The Duchess tells the Duke of Burgundy that the knight has offended her.
Register 2: the Châtelaine trains her dog to be her messenger. The Châtelaine sends her dog to the knight; knight with a hawk on his wrist. The knight and the Châtelaine meet in her bedroom; the knight chucks the Châtelaine under the chin. The Duke of Burgundy threatens the knight, kneeling; sword.
Bertaux 1912: France, 14th century.
Koechlin 1924: France, 1st half of the 14th century.
Gaborit-Chopin 2003 and Museum's opinion 2010: Paris, 2nd quarter of the 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Reverse
Flat and smooth, recessed along all edges to accommodate the ivory panels forming the sides on the casket.
Inscription: 'no. 1322, Meyrick Collection from the Lay of the "Comtesse de Vergy" early 14th cent. / french art'. Label with inscription: 'no. 467' (removed?).
Pencil inscription: 'vente Homberg, 1908'; Round label with inscription: '47'.Remains of a label with illegible number.
Object Condition
Ivory cracked. Large open crack in the lower part, from the left side, repaired with a metal strap. Holes for ironwork (removed, with the handle).
Provenance
Meyrick collection. Collection of Octave Homberg (b. 1876, d. 1941), Paris: sold, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 11-16 May 1908, lot 467 (purchased by Trotti). Collection of Claudius Côte, Lyon; bequest of Mrs. C. Côte, accepted 1962; on loan to the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Metz, arrêté of 27 Nov. 1975, renewed by arrêté of 13 April 1987.
Bibliography
C. Côte, 'Note sur un ivoire laïque', extract from Annales de la Société d'émulation et d'agriculture de l'Ain, undated [1911?], pp. 3-7.
E. Bertaux, Quelques pièces de la collection Claudius Côte (Lyon, 1912), plate XX.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), II, no. 1304.
H. Landais, 'La collection Claudius Côte. Département des Objets d'art', in Revue du Louvre, 1961, p. 130, fig. 3.
Mediaeval Arts in France, exhibition catalogue, Tokyo, Musée national d'art occidental and Auckland, Ciry Art Gallery, 1972-1973, no 40.
B. Schmolke-Hasselmann, 'La chastelaine de Vergi auf Pariser Elfenbeinkästchen des 14. Jahrhunderts. Zum Problem der Interpretation literarischer Texte anhand von Bildzeugnissen', in Romanisches Jahrbuch, XXVII, 1976, p. 63, note 39.
L. Gross, 'La Chastelaine de Vergi Carved in Ivory', in Viator, 10 (1979), p. 312, note 7.
D. Gaborit-Chopin, Ivoires médiévaux, Ve-XVe siècle (Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2003), no. 264.
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