Gothic Ivories Project | Complete mirror case (double valve de miroir) (Front)

Paris, Musée du Louvre; on loan to the Musée national du Moyen Âge-Musée de Cluny

Height: 103mm (A); 104mm (B)
Width: 102mm (A); 100mm (B); 72mm (mirror)
Depth: 6mm (A); 10mm (B)

A: Tournament; lady and youth observing the jousting knights in armour from the castle battlements; youth with a hawk on his wrist; horses; shields; youth chucking his lover under the chin; servants; two heralds blowing trumpets.
B: Attack on the Castle of Love; embracing couples on the castle battlements (meeting of the lovers; courting couples); lady crowning her lover; knights; horses; swords; shields.
Foliated corner terminals.

Koechlin 1924: France, mid-14th century.
Rouen 2000-2001: Paris, mid-14th century.
Gaborit-Chopin 2003 and Museum's opinion 2010: France, c. 1340-1350.

Attribution
Unknown

Reverse
A: labelled: 'A 63', 'no. 87', 'Chefs d'oeuvre de l'art français / 1937'. Handwritten: 'Louvre. Mol. 87'.
Around the edge, in ink: '25/80', in pencil: 'no. 87'.
B: screw thread with notches on the reverse.

Object Condition
A: brown stain on the lower-left leaf. Modern hole in upper part, in the centre.
B: Open crack with piece missing in the upper part.
19th century metal mirror.

Comments
This is one of the very few examples of a complete mirror case where both parts have survived.

Provenance
Collection of Alexandre-Charles Sauvageot, Paris (no. 271); gift of A.-C. Sauvageot to the Museum in 1856; on loan to the Musée national du Moyen Âge-Musée de Cluny since 1948, renewed by arrêté of 10 July 1986.

Bibliography
A. Sauzay, Musée impérial du Louvre. Catalogue du musée Sauvageot (Paris, 1861), no. 271.
A. Sauzay, Musée de la Renaissance [Musée du Louvre]. Notice des ivoires (Paris, 1863), no. 63.
E. Molinier, Musée National du Louvre. Catalogue des ivoires (Paris, 1896), no. 87.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 367, 387; II, no. 1039-1040.
Miroirs. Jeux et reflets depuis l'Antiquité, exhibition catalogue, Rouen, Musée départemental des Antiquités, 2000-2001, no. 93.
D. Gaborit-Chopin, Ivoires médiévaux, Ve-XVe siècle (Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2003), no. 272.

© Réunion des musées nationaux (RMN) - René-Gabriel Ojéda.
This photograph is copyright protected. Any reproduction or representation of this image is strictly limited to private use. Any other use requires the prior authorisation of the Rmn.Cette photographie est protégée par le droit d'auteur. Sa reproduction ou représentation est strictement réservée à votre usage privé. Toute autre utilisation devra faire l'objet d'une autorisation préalable auprès de la Rmn.

All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.