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Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Paris c.1400 and ?eastern France 1450s]
204 x 145mm. iv + 122 + iii leaves: 1-28, 38(i a 15th-century replacement), 4-88, 98(i a 15th-century replacement), 108, 118(iii a 15th-century replacement), 128(i a 15th-century replacement), 13-14 1510, with two horizontally written catchwords remaining in the inner margin of final versos, COMPLETE as replaced. 15 lines written in gothic bookhands between two verticals and 16 horizontals ruled in grey, justification: 87 x 54mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched red, one- to three-line initials with staves of burnished gold on grounds of pink or blue patterned with white with infills of the other colour, line-endings of the same colours, eight three-line initials with staves of red or blue on burnished gold grounds with foliate infills leading to bar borders of burnished gold with vine leaves in red, blue and burnished gold, some on painted stems and some on hairline tendrils, interspersed with gold disks, 15th-century additions of PANEL BORDERS ON EVERY PAGE, in the outer margin, of hairline tendrils linking vine leaves and disks in burnished gold and small painted flowers and fruit, centred around a larger acanthus or floral motif in blue, red, pink, green and liquid gold, the four 15th-century replacement leaves with large initials with staves of blue or pink patterned with white with foliate infills on grounds of burnished gold below FOUR LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES SURROUNDED BY FULL BORDERS, on f.17 of branches of acanthus, flowers and fruit in blue, green, pink, red and liquid gold interspersed with gold disks in a gold frame, three with bars of burnished gold and similar branches between hairline tendrils linking vine leaves and disks in burnished gold and small painted flowers and fruit (offsets of at least twelve pilgrim badges on third leaf at front, slight rubbing to miniature f.89v, a few borders rubbed, slight staining in margins). Late 15th- or early 16th-century German calf over wooden boards blindstamped to a panel design, the upper cover with a central compartment imitating a brocade pattern within a border framed by double fillets, with fra(n)sicus lege(n)d in black gothic letters at the top and flowers and foliage in the other compartments, the lower cover bordered with the flower and foliage compartments to all sides around a saltire of double fillets with a rose in a roundel in each triangular section, a separate piece of leather covering the spine, metal centre- and cornerpieces and attachments for clasps (removed from a life of St Francis at an unknown date, spine exposed, upper and lower covers detached, worn with small cut on lower cover, lacking two cornerpieces, the pin from one cornerpiece and the fasteners for the clasps).
PROVENANCE:
1. The liturgical use and the saints of the Calendar and Litany show that the manuscript was originally intended for Paris use, and the original illumination suggests that it was produced in that city around 1400.
2. Around 50 years after its completion the owner decided to embellish and update its decoration. The opening texts of the Offices to be given miniatures were excised and new leaves with miniatures and rewritten texts inserted. A border was added to the outer margin of every page of the manuscript, even the originally blank versos ff.64v, 112v and 122v. From the style of illumination, these additions were made in a provincial centre, perhaps in eastern France.
3. Hugues Bernard of Mâcon, born 1465 : name in margin on f.1, family notes f.122v and the final added leaves recording the death of his grandfather, Jean Bernard l'ancien, with dates left blank; his own birth to Jehan Bernard le jeune in 1465 and a long description of his marriage to Antoine (?), second daughter of Maître Anthoine (?) Dauphine notaire (?) royal and bourgeois of Mâcon, in 1487 at St Vincent, Mâcon, which was celebrated with some splendour, perhaps noted soon after the event, followed by the births of his seven daughters and six sons between 1488 and 1507 and the deaths of his mother, grandmother and father.
4. Partially erased stamp inside upper cover with Ex libris No. 3434 Rio de Janeiro
CONTENT:
Added prayers to Sts Sebastian and Blaise, in different hands, on first two parchment leaves; Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.13-16; Office of the Virgin, use of Paris, ff.17-64: matins f.17, lauds f.28, prime f.39, terce f.44, sext f.47v, none f.50v, vespers f.53v, compline f.59v; added prayer to Virgin on remainder of f.64; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.65-82, Hours of the Cross ff.83-87: matins f.83, prime f.84, terce f.84v, sext f.84v, none f.85, vespers f.85v, compline f.85v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.86-89: matins f.86, prime f.87, terce f.87, sext f.87v, none f.88, vespers f.88, complinr f.88v; Short Office of the Dead ff.89v-104; Fifteen Joys of the Virgin in French ff.104-109; Five Requests to Our Lord in French ff.109-112; hymn to the Virgin Glorieuse vierge royne ff.113-122.
ILLUMINATION:
The original illumination was restricted to initials and bar borders, placed only at the most important divisions, so that the Gospel Extracts and the final hymn to the Virgin were not so distinguished. In the 1450s, the owner decided on extensive embellishments by adding a panel border to every page and replacing four leaves to insert miniatures. The Annunciation and the Crucifixion are set against large areas of burnished gold, while the more robust figures of David and the burial scene are in outdoor settings enriched with gold. The styles are not Parisian and the alterations may have been made not too far from Mâcon, the home of the owner by the end of the 15th century. Both figure types can be related to eastern France, where painters influenced by the styles current in Savoy delighted in gold and architectural canopies and elegantly curving border decoration. The sharply delineated faces with simplified features relate to conventions used by the Savoyard court illuminator, Perronet Lamy, and can be paralleled in various centres to the east of Paris like Besançon and Lyon (see F.Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1993, pp.202-210; J. Plummer, The Last Flowering, French Painting in Manuscripts 1420-1530, 1982, nos.71-76)
The subjects of the large miniatures are as follows:
f.17 The Annunciation
f.65 David in penitence
f.83 Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St John
f.89 Burial in a cemetery
[Paris c.1400 and ?eastern France 1450s]
204 x 145mm. iv + 122 + iii leaves: 1-28, 38(i a 15th-century replacement), 4-88, 98(i a 15th-century replacement), 108, 118(iii a 15th-century replacement), 128(i a 15th-century replacement), 13-14 1510, with two horizontally written catchwords remaining in the inner margin of final versos, COMPLETE as replaced. 15 lines written in gothic bookhands between two verticals and 16 horizontals ruled in grey, justification: 87 x 54mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched red, one- to three-line initials with staves of burnished gold on grounds of pink or blue patterned with white with infills of the other colour, line-endings of the same colours, eight three-line initials with staves of red or blue on burnished gold grounds with foliate infills leading to bar borders of burnished gold with vine leaves in red, blue and burnished gold, some on painted stems and some on hairline tendrils, interspersed with gold disks, 15th-century additions of PANEL BORDERS ON EVERY PAGE, in the outer margin, of hairline tendrils linking vine leaves and disks in burnished gold and small painted flowers and fruit, centred around a larger acanthus or floral motif in blue, red, pink, green and liquid gold, the four 15th-century replacement leaves with large initials with staves of blue or pink patterned with white with foliate infills on grounds of burnished gold below FOUR LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES SURROUNDED BY FULL BORDERS, on f.17 of branches of acanthus, flowers and fruit in blue, green, pink, red and liquid gold interspersed with gold disks in a gold frame, three with bars of burnished gold and similar branches between hairline tendrils linking vine leaves and disks in burnished gold and small painted flowers and fruit (offsets of at least twelve pilgrim badges on third leaf at front, slight rubbing to miniature f.89v, a few borders rubbed, slight staining in margins). Late 15th- or early 16th-century German calf over wooden boards blindstamped to a panel design, the upper cover with a central compartment imitating a brocade pattern within a border framed by double fillets, with fra(n)sicus lege(n)d in black gothic letters at the top and flowers and foliage in the other compartments, the lower cover bordered with the flower and foliage compartments to all sides around a saltire of double fillets with a rose in a roundel in each triangular section, a separate piece of leather covering the spine, metal centre- and cornerpieces and attachments for clasps (removed from a life of St Francis at an unknown date, spine exposed, upper and lower covers detached, worn with small cut on lower cover, lacking two cornerpieces, the pin from one cornerpiece and the fasteners for the clasps).
PROVENANCE:
1. The liturgical use and the saints of the Calendar and Litany show that the manuscript was originally intended for Paris use, and the original illumination suggests that it was produced in that city around 1400.
2. Around 50 years after its completion the owner decided to embellish and update its decoration. The opening texts of the Offices to be given miniatures were excised and new leaves with miniatures and rewritten texts inserted. A border was added to the outer margin of every page of the manuscript, even the originally blank versos ff.64v, 112v and 122v. From the style of illumination, these additions were made in a provincial centre, perhaps in eastern France.
3. Hugues Bernard of Mâcon, born 1465 : name in margin on f.1, family notes f.122v and the final added leaves recording the death of his grandfather, Jean Bernard l'ancien, with dates left blank; his own birth to Jehan Bernard le jeune in 1465 and a long description of his marriage to Antoine (?), second daughter of Maître Anthoine (?) Dauphine notaire (?) royal and bourgeois of Mâcon, in 1487 at St Vincent, Mâcon, which was celebrated with some splendour, perhaps noted soon after the event, followed by the births of his seven daughters and six sons between 1488 and 1507 and the deaths of his mother, grandmother and father.
4. Partially erased stamp inside upper cover with Ex libris No. 3434 Rio de Janeiro
CONTENT:
Added prayers to Sts Sebastian and Blaise, in different hands, on first two parchment leaves; Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.13-16; Office of the Virgin, use of Paris, ff.17-64: matins f.17, lauds f.28, prime f.39, terce f.44, sext f.47v, none f.50v, vespers f.53v, compline f.59v; added prayer to Virgin on remainder of f.64; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.65-82, Hours of the Cross ff.83-87: matins f.83, prime f.84, terce f.84v, sext f.84v, none f.85, vespers f.85v, compline f.85v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.86-89: matins f.86, prime f.87, terce f.87, sext f.87v, none f.88, vespers f.88, complinr f.88v; Short Office of the Dead ff.89v-104; Fifteen Joys of the Virgin in French ff.104-109; Five Requests to Our Lord in French ff.109-112; hymn to the Virgin Glorieuse vierge royne ff.113-122.
ILLUMINATION:
The original illumination was restricted to initials and bar borders, placed only at the most important divisions, so that the Gospel Extracts and the final hymn to the Virgin were not so distinguished. In the 1450s, the owner decided on extensive embellishments by adding a panel border to every page and replacing four leaves to insert miniatures. The Annunciation and the Crucifixion are set against large areas of burnished gold, while the more robust figures of David and the burial scene are in outdoor settings enriched with gold. The styles are not Parisian and the alterations may have been made not too far from Mâcon, the home of the owner by the end of the 15th century. Both figure types can be related to eastern France, where painters influenced by the styles current in Savoy delighted in gold and architectural canopies and elegantly curving border decoration. The sharply delineated faces with simplified features relate to conventions used by the Savoyard court illuminator, Perronet Lamy, and can be paralleled in various centres to the east of Paris like Besançon and Lyon (see F.Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1993, pp.202-210; J. Plummer, The Last Flowering, French Painting in Manuscripts 1420-1530, 1982, nos.71-76)
The subjects of the large miniatures are as follows:
f.17 The Annunciation
f.65 David in penitence
f.83 Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St John
f.89 Burial in a cemetery
Special notice
This lot will not be subject to VAT either on the hammer price or the buyer's premium.