Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds; musician shepherd playing the bagpipes; Virgin holding the left hand of Christ.
Pinnacles.
Koechlin 1924: France, end of 2nd quarter of the 14th century.
Lowden 2008: Paris, c. 1325-1350. Radiocarbon analysis of the ivory (545+- 3- BP) revealed two possible date brackets, a 95% probability that the elephant died between 1310 and 1360 or between 1380 and 1440. Within the earlier of the two dating brackets, the most probable date for the harvesting of the ivory is 1330-1345.
Museum's opinion 2008: France (Paris), c. 1325-1350.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Traces of two missing hinges on the right side. Spacing of hinges: 00, 30, 40, 100, 110, 139 mm.
Reverse
Signs of planing and keying for adhesive on all four edges, suggesting that the ivory was at some time mounted.
Object Condition
In good condition. Damage around the mortice and locking pin cuttings for the upper hinge.
Comments
It probably accompanied a Last Judgement or a Crucifixion scene (Lowden 2008).
Provenance
Collection of Samuel Bing, Paris (in 1908). Thomson collection, Toronto: acquired, 6 November 1992, from Galerie Charles Ratton-Guy Ladrière (exhibition 'Le Monde Médiéval', 12 March-12 April 1991), Paris, through Richard Camber, London; since 2008, The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Toronto.
Bibliography
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 280; II, no. 777.
Le monde médiéval (exhibition catalogue, Galerie Charles Ratton-Guy Ladrière, Paris, 12 March-12 April 1991), pp. 16-17.
J. Cherry, J. Lowden, Medieval Ivories and Works of Art: The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, 2008), cat. 29.
All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.
