Gawain in armour fighting the lion; Lancelot crossing the sword bridge, with spears and sword falling from the sky; ladies including a queen watching from the castle battlements; lady holding a dog.
Randall 1997: French, 1320-1340.
Attribution
Unknown
Object Condition
Missing: silver mounts. Recessed borders for mounts.
Comments
The front, back and (Bern) side panels were kept together until the 19th century when they were assembled into a box with an added 19th-century ivory lid with a jousting scene and added side. It was sold in 1977 to a Texas collector who took it apart and sold the genuine parts. The front is now in the Princeton University Art Museum (1996-153), the back and side with the perilous bridge scene are in private collections. The missing side, which must have been separated from the others at an early stage was acquired in 2009 by the Princeton University Art Museum (2009-23). The spears falling from the sky actually belong to the perilous bed episode.
Provenance
Sotheby's, London, 15 December 1977, lot 27 (sold together with the back and Perilous Bridge sides, included in a recomposed casket): private collection, Texas (the casket was taken apart at this time). Collection of Dr. Ernst Boehlen, Bern (in 1997).
Bibliography
R. H. Randall Jr., 'Games on a Medieval Ivory', in Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, 56 (1997), pp. 3-9, fig. 3.
All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.
