Standing female figure holding a book, alternating with male figure with hands joined in prayer.
Longhurst 1929: France, 14th century.
Williamson and Davies 2014: France or Germany, c. 1320-40.
Attribution
Unknown
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of brown staining.
Reverse
Carved on all sides.
Object Condition
Likely missing the terminal crowning feature (top flat and scored for attachment).
Top corner broken and repaired.
Bottom pierced with a hole for the tang attached to a blade. Lower edges recessed for metal mount.
Provenance
Collection of William Henry Forester Denison, 2nd Baron Londesborough, by 1872: Londesborough sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 10 July 1888, lot 766. Collection of George Salting, London: his bequest to the Museum in 1910.
Bibliography
W. Chaffers, Catalogue of the Londesborough Collection of Arms and Armour, with a Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Works of Art, the Property of Lord Londesborough (London, 1872), no. 1203.
G. W. Rhead, History of the Fan (London, 1910), p. 91.
'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. 93
M. Longhurst, Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2 vols (London, 1927 and 1929), II (1929), p. 28, pl. XXV.
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 225.
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