Gothic Ivories Project | Rounded-top triptych (originally gabled triptych), 2 registers, 2 arches across and 3 arches across (frise d'arcatures; colonnettes) (Front)

Wing, left
Register 1: swooning Virgin supported by two Holy Women.
Register 2: Adoring Magi (part of the Adoration of the Magi).
Centre panel
Register 1: Crucifixion; Longinus with spear standing in prayer; Stephaton giving Christ vinegar; Stephaton holding a bucket.
Register 2: standing Virgin and Child (Vierge glorieuse); two standing angels holding candlesticks.
Wing, right
Register 1: saint John the Evangelist and another onlooker.
Register 2: Presentation in the Temple; Christ held over the altar by the Virgin and Simeon.
Foliated border (vine leaves). Pinnacles.

Koechlin 1924: France, 2nd half of the 14th century.
Longhurst 1929: French, 2nd half of the 14th century.
Williamson and Davies 2014: Possibly Upper Rhenish, 1st quarter of the 14th century.

Attribution
Unknown

Hinges
Two ring hinges on either side.

Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of polychromy: green staining remains (lining of garments; candles; spandrels).

Reverse
Flat and smooth.

Object Condition
Missing: three pinnacles, upper part of Stephaton's stick and sponge.
Several colonnettes are broken.
Crosshatching and holes on the underside to secure to a pedestal.
Deep cracks.
According to Koechlin (1924), the upper part of the triptych seems to have been recarved and was certainly originally gabled.

Provenance
Collection of George Salting, London: bequeathed to the Museum in 1910.

Bibliography
R. Koechlin, 'Quelques ateliers d'ivoiriers français aux XIII et XIVe siècles. I. L'atelier du diptyque du trésor de Soissons', in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 34 (1905), p. 468.
'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), p. 92.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 135-137; II, no. 197.
M. Longhurst, Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2 vols (London, 1927 and 1929), II (1929), p. 15, pl. IX.
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 54.

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