LIMOGES, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A SET OF FOUR ENAMELLED PLAQUES WITH SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF HERCULES
LIMOGES, 16TH CENTURY
Depicting Hercules carrying a celestial globe, Hercules on a pyre, the slain Nessus with Hercules and Deianira in the background and Hercules with Nessus and Deianira; all set into a modern velvet and leather case.
Very minor damages and restorations; minor wear to gilding.
2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 4 cm. ) each. (4)

Provenance

Sold in these Rooms 29th April 1980, lot 11.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
P. Verdier, The Walters Art Gallery- Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967, no.111

Special notice

VAT rate of 17.5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer’s premium.

Sale room notice

This lot should carry the starred symbol and not the omega symbol, which signifies that VAT is payable at 5 and not 17.5 on the hammer price and buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

These four plaques probably formed part of a salt-cellar (see Verdier, loc.cit. for a similar example). Although the iconography of the present lot is very close to the Baltimore Museum example, it displays a much more refined painting style that shows the artist's understanding of anatomical details, foreshortening and the use of light and dark shades. Stylistic comparison to similar examples from a slightly later date do suggest that these plaques could date from circa 1550 and were influenced by the rigid but very precise style of Pierre Reymond.

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