Natanson 1951: England, c. 1300.
Williamson 1999: England, c. 1300.
Williamson and Davies 2014: England, c. 1300
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Traces of two missing hinges on each wing. Traces of two phases of hinges, the first one seems to have been ring hinges.
Polychromy - Gilding
Trace of polychromy: red (top of right wing behind foremost figure).
Reverse
Flat and smooth. Ink inscription on the back: '459' (probably refers to an earlier collection).
Object Condition
Hole in the middle of each wing, on the outer side, for a missing clasp.
Comments
This is one of only three known complete English triptychs of the Gothic period.
Provenance
Collection of Sir Julius Wernher (b. 1850, d. 1912), at Bath House, Piccadilly and Luton Hoo (Bedfordshire); allocated in 1996 to the Victoria and Albert Museum in lieu of inheritance tax (Estate of Lady Anastasia Wernher).
Bibliography
J. Natanson, 'Mediæval and Renaissance Art in the Collection', in H. Wernher, A.A. Longden and J. Natanson, The Wernher Collection (Lutton Hoo, 1950), p. 27.
J. Natanson, Gothic Ivories of the 13th and 14th Centuries (London, 1951), p. 34, fig. 21.
P. Williamson, 'Acquisitions of Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992-1999', in Burlington Magazine, CXLI, 1161 (December 1999), p. 783, fig. 1.
P. Williamson, 'Medieval Ivory Carvings in the Wernher Collection', in Apollo (May 2002), pp. 17-22 (p. 18).
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 53.
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