England, Nottingham, second half 15th Century

consisting of seven alabaster canopies and seven reliefs panel, from left to right including:

the standing figure of St. Stephen, the deacon saint holding three stones in his left hand and a book of gospels in his right;
the martyrdom of St. Stephen, with the kneeling saint holding a scroll in his hands surrounded by four figures throwing stones, the hand of God above ;
the martyrdom of St. Lawrence with the denuded saint chained to a gridiron over a fire stoked by two torturers, a scroll issuing from his mouth, and with three figures including the Emperor Valerian;
the Trinity with the enthroned figure of God the Father holding Christ Crucified between His knees and a basket of souls held between His wrists, four angels beneath;
the martyrdom of St. Erasmus, centered by Diocletian, sword in hand and flanked by two torturers, the saint clad in a loin cloth and laid out on a trestle table while being disemboweled;
the martyrdom of St. Thomas with the kneeling saint at prayer with four assailants around him;
the standing figure of St. Lawrence, the gridiron in his left hand, a book of gospels in his right

Probably formerly in the Carthusian Monastery of the Chartreuse de Vauvers, which stood behind the Palais Luxembourg in Paris and which was destroyed during the revolution in 1798 
Collection of the Carthusian Order France, c. 1901
Sotheby's, London, 14 December 1978, lot 22
Collection formed by the British Rail Pension Fund, sale Sotheby's London, 4 July 1996, lot 17
Private collection, England

Norwich Castle Museum, 1979-1995

F. Cheetham, "A Fifteenth-century English alabaster altar-piece in Norwich Castle Museum," in Burlington Magazine, June 1983, pp. 356-359, figs. 45-51
600 Years of British Painting: The Berger Collection at the Denver Art Museum, exhibition catalogue, Denver Art Museum, Denver, 10 October 1998 - 28 March 1999, pp. 8-11
F. Cheetham, Alabaster Images of Medieval England, Woodbridge, 2003, pp. 39, 53, 64, 164

Overall, there is standard wear and surface abrasions commensurate with age as well as minor chips and losses throughout. There are repaired breaks to both St. Stephen and St. Lawrence. There are also small repaired breaks to most of the canopies, although they are not easily visible. Small losses to the panels include: the martyrdom of St. Lawrence- 2 spears on central figures, central panel with Trinity- to a cornucopia in the right-hand angel's hands. There are some expertly repaired cracks in the backgrounds of some of the panels. There is original polychromy with small areas of refreshed paint and gilding. The canopies above St. Stephen and the Trinity may come from another altar of the same period, probably to replace damaged or missing pieces. The wood framework is later.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Francis Cheetham (1983, op. cit.) recorded that this triptych is the only known Nottingham altarpiece illustrating the theme of Martyrdom; the other known altars depict scenes of the Passion or the Life of the Virgin. The Martyrdom Altarpiece is also the only complete altar of single register to come to auction in America within the last century. 

Where Limoges had monopolized and standardized its champlevé enamelled copper liturgical works of art and Saxony long dictated the production of bronze vessels, England dominated the market for carved stone altarpieces in Europe for most of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It capitalised on the softness of the alabaster which made it easy to carve and which was found in the quarries near Derby, west of Nottingham in England. The Nottingham sculptors used standard designs for their reliefs, although no two panels are the same, and produced the objects in a format that made them easy to transport along the trade routes. At least eight complete altarpieces made their way to Iceland in this manner, as well as Cartagena in southern Spain, Palma de Mallorca and the island of Korcula off the coast of Croatia. But because of the destruction of the majority of altar during the wars and the Reformation, England itself possesses only two complete Nottingham altarpieces in the Nottingham Castle Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, although fragments still exist in churches throughout the country.