Coronation of the Virgin from the gable of a reliquary
Coronation of the Virgin from the gable of a reliquary

On view

East-West Artwalk
Haskell Education Center

Coronation of the Virgin from the gable of a reliquary,

13th century

French
y1955-3223
This gable from a reliquary is an excellent example of champlevé enamel technique from Limoges. Beginning in the twelfth century, the city of Limoges in central France became a major center for the production and export of champlevé enamel. In this chemical process, colored enamel, which is similar in composition to glass, is fused to copper. Champlevé refers specifically to enamels that sit in recesses in the copper plate. Separately cast and chiseled copper heads, like those of the Virgin and angels on this chasse, were also typical features of Limoges-work.
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More About This Object

MDVccards: Medieval Trade and Artistic Exchange

Information

Title
Coronation of the Virgin from the gable of a reliquary
Dates

13th century

Medium
Gilt copper and champlevé enamel
Dimensions
17 × 23 × 1.1 cm (6 11/16 × 9 1/16 × 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Class of 1906, for the Carl Otto von Kienbusch Jr., Memorial Collection
Object Number
y1955-3223
Place Made

Europe, France, Limoges

Culture
French
Type
metalwork, architectural elements
Materials
copper, champlevé
Techniques
gilding
Subject
reliquaries, enamels, religious art, roundels, Christianity, Mary, blue, figures (representations), doves, coronations, angels, rosettes, religious symbolism

Possibly Albin Chalandon (1809-85) [1]; possibly by descent to Georges Chalandon (1852-1921). [Mathias Komor, New York]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, 1955.

[1] Albin Chalandon assembled a significant collection of medieval enamels in his hometown of Lyon, France in the middle of the nineteenth century. Parts of the collection were exhibited in 1877 in the “Exhibition Rétrospective de Lyon,” accompanied by the catalogue, Exposition rétrospective de Lyon : notice sommaire des objets d'art exposés dans le Palais du commerce, au profit du Bureau de bienfaisance de la ville le Lyon Notice sommaire des tableaux et médailles exposés dans le palais du commerce au profit du bureau de bienfaisance de la ville de Lyon. The collection was published in Gaston Migeon’s 1905 'La Collection de M.G. Chalandon,' (Les Arts, No.42, June 1905, pp17-29) and in the 1913 catalogue “Exposition d'objets d'art du Moyen-Age et de la Renaissance organisée par la marquise de Ganay : chez M. Jacques Seligmann, Paris.” While the Chalandon collection is well documented, it is not possible to securely identify the present work an object listed in these publications.

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