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Wings, 2 registers, 1 arch across (fragment of a polyptych; missing centre panel) (Front, out of sequence)

Wings, 2 registers, 1 arch across (fragment of a polyptych; missing centre panel) (Front, out of sequence)
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Front (open)

Front

Front, out of sequence

Subject
Religious. Infancy of Christ.


Private collection, London (in 2010)

S/n

Ivory

Height: 208mm
Width: 196mm
Depth: 3-5mm

Wing 1
Register 1: Seated figure with open book and hovering crown (tbc).
Register 2: Pilate ordering the Massacre of the Innocents; a demon whispers in his ear.
Wing 2
Register 1: Annunciation; vase of lilies; dove of the Holy Spirit.
Register 2: Massacre of the Innocents.
Wing 3
Register 1: Visitation.
Register 2: Adoring magi (part of an Adoration of the Magi).
Wing 4
Register 1: Nativity.
Register 2: Miracle of the Cornfield; peasant; soldier in armour.
Wing 5
Register 1: Presentation in the Temple; Christ standing on the altar between the Virgin and Simeon.
Register 2: Flight into Egypt.
Wing 6
Register 1: Christ among the Doctors.
Register 2: Fall of the idols.


Koechlin Number: 0181bis

Koechlin 1924: French, 2nd half of the 14th century.
Randall 1993: German, 14th century.
Williamson 2005: Probably German, c. 1325-1350.


Attribution
Unknown

Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive traces of polychromy and gilding.

Reverse
Flat and smooth.

Object Condition
Missing: centre panel between wings 3 and 4.
The gables of wing 4 and 5 are made of different pieces of ivory.

Provenance
Collection of Prince Wallerstein-Oettingen collection, Wallerstein Castle, Wurtemberg (at least from 1924 to 1993). Trinity Fine Arts, New York, November 1995, lot 15. Sotheby's, London, 3 December 1997, lot 7. Sam Fogg, London (bought from Trinity Fine Arts, June 2004); private collection, London, in 2010 (bought from Sam Fogg, London, 23 June 2004).

Bibliography
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 134-137; II, no. 181bis; III, pl. XLV.
R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Ivory Carvings in North American Collections (New York, 1993), p. 58.
P. Williamson, Medieval and Later Treasures from a Private Collection, exhibition catalogue, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2005, no. 36.


Image

Conway Library © Courtauld Institute of Art.

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