Gothic Ivories Project | Mirror case, 3 roundels (valve de miroir) (Front)

Courting couples (meeting of lovers)
Roundel 1: offering of the heart; trees.
Roundel 2: offering of a chaplet; trees.
Roundel 3: courting couple; trees.
Seated youth; seated lady; seated musician playing a string instrument (mandola, belonging to the lute family).

Koechlin 1924: France, 15th century.
Egbert 1929: Italy, early 15th century.
Bologna 1959: late 14th century.
Chieti 2003-2004: Northern Italy (Veneto or Lombardy), 1370-1380.

Attribution
Unknown

Provenance
Collection of Pelagio Pelagi (no. 248); this collection was acquired by the Comune di Bologna in 1860 and subsequently divided between the Biblioteca Comunale dell'Archiginnasio, the Museo Civico Archeologico and the Museo Civico Medievale of Bologna.

Bibliography
J. O. Westwood, Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1876), Appendix, p. 364, no. 13.
P. Ducati, Guida del Museo Civico di Bologna (Bologna, 1923), p. 185.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 411; II, no. 1113; III, pl. CLXXXVIII.
D. D. Egbert, 'North Italian Gothic Ivories in the Museo Cristiano of the Vatican Library', in Art Studies 7 (1929), pp. 168-207 [p. 204, fig. 68].
Lavori in osso e avorio dalla Preistoria al Rococò, dir. by R. Pincelli, exhibition catalogue, Bologna, Museo Civico, 20 September-11 October 1959, no. 111, pl. 21.
A. Marciano, Avori gotici - entry no. 9 (Museo Civico Medievale), Catalogo dei Musei Civici d'Arte Antica di Bologna (unpublished, [c. 1992-1994]).
Attraverso lo specchio. Storia inganni e verità di uno strumento di conoscenza, dir. A. Campanelli, M. P. Pennetta, exhibition catalogue, Chieti, Museo Nazionale Archeologico la Civitella, 7 December 2003-2 May 2004, p. 140 (entry by S. Battistini).

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