Inv. 71.250
Register 1: Crucifixion, with sword pointing towards the Virgin's chest; swooning Virgin supported by Holy Women; saint John the Evangelist and onlookers holding scrolls.
Register 2: Martyrdom of saint Thomas Becket; three soldiers in armour; soldier striking saint Thomas on the head; cleric holding a cross; shield.
Border of dentils.
Koechlin 1924: France, 2nd half of the 14th century.
Randall 1985 and Museum's opinion 2010: German (?) (Rhenish?), 3rd quarter of the 14th century.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Traces of two missing hinges on the left side.
Reverse
Flat and smooth. Worn edges. Small drill holes.
Object Condition
Broken near the hinges and chipped along the lower edge.
Comments
Koechlin (1924) describes it as having a jet of blood rather than a sword pointing towards the Virgin's chest, and notes the saint is mitred, which does not seem to correspond to Homberg, lot 486.
Provenance
Collection of Octave Homberg (b. 1876, d. 1941), Paris: sold, Paris, 11-16 May 1908, lot 486 (purchased by Stettiner). Bought by Henry Walters in 1924; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Bibliography
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 180, 217; II, 346ter.
T. Borenius, Thomas à Becket in Art (London, 1932), pl. 31, fig. 3 (mislabeled).
C. R. Morey, 'A Group of Gothic Ivories in the Walters Art Gallery', in Art Bulletin, 18 (1936), pp. 199ff.
C. R. Morey, Gli oggetti di avorio e di osso del Museo Vaticano (Vatican City, 1936), I, p. 41, pl. 21.
R. H. Randall, Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery (New York, 1985), no. 307.
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