Allemagne, probablement Cologne, premiere moitie du XIVe siecle

Collection B. Hochon, Paris
sa vente à Paris 11 juin 1903, p. 16, no. 23 reproduit

Exposition d'objets d'art du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance, Hôtel de Sagan, Paris, 1913.

Exposition d'objets d'art du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance organisée par la Marquise de Ganay chez Jacques Seligmann, 23 rue Constantine, Hôtel de Sagan, cat. exp. Paris, 1913, no. 122.

This large diptych panel is finely carved with overall surface dirt. A fine vertical discoloured line is evident in the centre on the surface of the ivory going from the top to the bottom possibly caused by exposure to candlelight. The left hand of the left king has lost his fingers. The central king has his index finger and thumb partly missing. Several fine vertical fissures are evident in the background in particular one which extends from the top rim to the Childs shoulder which has slightly opened up as well as one between the two standing kings. The other fissures remain evident only on the surface. Traces of hinge mounting on the right side.
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Le pendant de cette plaque représentait vraisemblablement une Crucifixion. A droite est assise la Vierge; debout sur ses genoux, l'Enfant tient le cadeau d'or que lui tend un Roi mage, âgé, le front dégarni, sa couronne autour de son poignet gauche. Les deux autres Mages sont debout à l'arrière-plan, celui au centre indiquant un ange émergeant de l'arc droit et portant une étoile. La scène se déroule sous trois arcs trilobés, surmontés de gables ajourés de motifs tréflés, soulignés de doubles crochets feuillus et entre lesquels sont gravés en champlevé des trèfles et des clochetons. Les éléments architecturaux ont été privilégiés par les maîtres de Cologne.  Ce feuillet appartient à un groupe d'ivoires gothiques rhénans, de la première moitié du XIV^e siècle que Little attribua aux ateliers de Cologne. Une plaque de l'Adoration des Mages d'un style proche est conservée à Utrecht au Aartsbisschoppelijk Museum (inv. no. B759). On retrouve des elements architecturaux similaires sur une plaque avec une Crucifixion conservée à Kansas et illustrée par Randall (no. 87).

REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES
R. H. Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory, Gothic Carvings in North American Collections, New York, 1993, no. 87.
C. Little, "Gothic Ivory Carving in Germany" dans P. Barnet, Images In Ivory, Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, cat. exp. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit,1997, p. 81-87, fig. VI.3.

GERMAN, PROBABLY COLOGNE, FIRST HALF 14TH CENTURY
IVORY DIPTYCH LEAF WITH THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

This left-hand leaf of a diptych would originally have been paired with the Crucifixion. On the right the Virgin is seated supporting the Christ Child standing on her lap whilst He grasps the proferred disk of gold extended by the kneeling Magi, his crown over his left wrist . The second king points to the star held by an angel whilst the third king stands to the left. The three trilobate arches are surmounted by intricate crocketting and pinnacles, an architectural element much favoured in Cologne. This dipytych leaf belongs to a group of Rhenish ivories of the first half of the 14th century which Little attributed to Cologne workshops. The relief can also be compared to the Relief of the Adoration in the Aartsbischoppelijk Museum, Utrecht (fig.VI-3). Note also the use of pinnacles in the the Crucifixion plaque in the Spencer Museum of Art , University of Kansas, Lawrence illustrated by Randall (no.87).