Seated Virgin and Child; Christ standing in the Virgin's lap; Christ in long robe; Virgin holding a flower in her right hand; Virgin trampling a monster under her left foot; ivory throne with Gothic tracery; ring; bands of pierced quatrefoils.
Molinier 1904: France, early 15th century.
Koechlin 1924 and Falke 1922: Modern, forgery by Louis Marcy.
Museum's opinion 2011: . France (Paris), c. 1250-1275 with later additions (or restorations) and polychromy.
Attribution
Atelier of Louis Marcy
Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive traces of polychromy and gilding (later): gold (pattern along the hems; pattern on the back of the bench; crown; hair), blue (lining of the Virgin's cloak), red (along the hems; gem of the ring).
Reverse
Carved in the round. Round label with inscription '3023'.
Provenance
Collection of Baron Albert Oppenheim, Cologne: sale 1906; collection of J. Pierpont Morgan (d. 1913), London and New York; estate of J. Pierpont Morgan (1913-1917); gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.
Bibliography
E. Molinier, Histoire générale des Arts appliqués à l'Industrie. I: Les Ivoires (Paris, 1896), p. 186.
E. Molinier, F. Marcou, L'Exposition rétrospective de l'Art français des origines à 1900 (Paris, 1900), p. 7 and ill. (héliogravure).
Exposition Universelle de 1900, Catalogue illustré Officiel de l'Exposition Rétrospective de l'Art Français (Paris, 1900), no. 61.
Kunsthistorische Ausstellung Düsseldorf, exhibition catalogue, Düsseldorf, 1902, no. 1209, pl. 78.
E. Molinier, Collection du Baron Albert Oppenheim, tableaux et objets d'art (Paris, 1904), p. 31, no. 69, pl. LII.
O. von Falke, Die Marcy Fälschungen (Belvedere, 1922), I, pl. VI, fig. 12.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, p. 104; II, no. 94.
O. Kurtz, Fakes (London, 1939), p. 170, pl. 51.
C. Blair and M. Campbell, Louis Marcy: Oggetti d'arte della Galleria Parmeggiani di Reggio Emilia (Turin, 2008), fig. 31, pp. 72-75 (with ill.).
C. T. Little , ‘The Art of Gothic Ivories: Studies at the Crossroads,’ in The Sculpture Journal 23.1 (2014), pp. 13-29, fig. 1-2.
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