Lot Essay
The complete series of emperors en grisaille appears to be unique. The Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, has five similar medallions en grisaille, which came from the collection of J.B. Tavernier (d. 1786). The sequence of numbers does not follow strictly the chronological order of the Emperors' reigns: the use of Arabic, rather than Roman numerals is however characteristic of Limoges in the 16th Century. Philippe Verdier, who wrote the catalogue of Enamels in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, believes them to date from around 1535.