Courting couple (meeting of lovers); offering of the heart; tree; buildings.
Foliated corner terminals.
Westwood 1876: French, 14th century.
Dalton 1909: French, end of 14th century.
Koechlin 1924: French, end of 14th century.
Randall 1997: North Italian, 1360-1370.
Museum's opinion 2011: North Italian, late 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Reverse
Back turned with a depression for (missing) mirror. Modern ink inscriptions: 'W. M' (for William Maskell) 'May/52' and '23'.
Object Condition
Restored at top rim, around pierced hole.
Provenance
Collection of William Maskell (b. 1814, d. 1890) (no. 23), possibly acquired in May 1852 (see inscription on reverse): bought from him by the British Museum in 1856.
Bibliography
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), no. 851 ('58.81).
O. M. Dalton, Catalogue of the Ivory Carvings of the Christian Era in the British Museum (London, 1909), no. 385, Pl. XCI.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 411, 517; II, no. 1109; III, pl. CLXXXVII.
R. H. Randall Jr., 'Games on a Medieval Ivory', in Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, 56 (1997), pp. 3-9 (p. 4, fig. 4).
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), in relation to no. 207.
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