Lot 49: A RECTANGULAR ENAMEL PLAQUE OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN

A RECTANGULAR ENAMEL PLAQUE OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
CIRCLE OF NARDON PENICAUD (1470-1542/3) CIRCA 1500
Depicting the Virgin seated on a throne to the centre and flanked by Christ on her right and God the Father on her left; with attendant angels and the dove of the Holy Spirit in the background; in a later moulded brass frame and a red velvet-covered wood ground; minor wear to the gilding, losses, mottling in places
5¼ x 4¼ in. (13 x 11 cm.)

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
P. Verdier, The Walters Art Gallery - Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967.

Purchased by Gustaaf Hamburger in the late 1960s, and by descent.

THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE GUSTAAF HAMBURGER
(LOTS 46-55)
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium
Although relatively little is known about the workshops operating in Limoges in the early 16th century, extensive research by Marquet de Vasselot identified a handful of unnamed masters (and their workshops) to whom a large number of early enamels could be attributed. Comparisons between this plaque and the Crucifixion plaque in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (Verdier, op. cit, pp. 25-8, no. 25), dated to circa 1505 and attributed to Nardon Pénicaud, show a very similar attention to the rounded faces of Christ and the Virgin, as well as to their broad noses and down-turned eyes that are created by a concave line with a dot in the centre. Further similarities can also be found in the beards of the two Christ figures, which are broadly grey and formerly highlighted with individual strands of gilded hair, and to their torsos, which have stylised rib cages and very narrow waists. Although sufficient differences exist between these two plaques to suggest that the Coronation of the Virgin was not executed by Pénicaud, the very idiosyncratic similarities suggest that it was created by someone very familiar with his work.