Seated Virgin and Child; Christ standing on the Virgin's left knee; Christ holding a book in his left hand; Virgin holding a flower in her right hand; crown.
London 1923: French, 14th century.
Randall 1993: England, 2nd quarter of the 14th century.
Williamson and Davies 2014: French (Paris), about 1320-30.
Attribution
Unknown
Hinges
Traces of two missing hinges on either sides.
Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of original gilding and polychromy: gold (belt, halo, sunburst pattern on the Virgin's cloak, along the hems, pattern on Christ's robe, columns, bench, crown, etc), green staining indicating an originally blue colour (lining of the Virgin's cloak, stem, patterns on the Virgin's cloak, gable, architectural details).
Reverse
Bevelled at sides and smooth. Two round paper labels: 'Rev. L. Gilbertson' and '110'.
Object Condition
Missing: head of the flower in the Virgin's hand.
The top of the gable has been broken and restored with a piece of wood (between 1923 and 1940). Thin wedge of ivory from bottom initially inserted so that the panel would stand straight.
Comments
Randall (1993) suggested that this ivory may be the product of the same atelier as a diptych in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (inventory number L960.9.24) showing a seated Virgin and Child (left leaf) and the Crucifixion (right leaf).
Provenance
Collection of Canon Lewis Gilbertson, Rector of St Martin's Church, Ludgate Hill, London (in 1923): bequest of Mrs Gilbertson in memory of her husband in 1940.
Bibliography
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Carvings in Ivory, exhibition catalogue, London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1923, no. 100, pl. XXX.
R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory: Gothic Ivory Carvings in North American Collections (New York, 1993), in relation to no. 61.
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), no. 60.
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