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Lot Essay
This ivory group would originally have formed the centrepiece of a more elaborate polyptych such as lot 147. An example with a comparable group of a seated Virgin and Child is in the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (see Randall, loc. cit.). Although only a fragment of the figure of Christ remains, the positioning of the foot on the Virgin's lap and comparison with other complete examples allow us to reconstruct the original composition. Christ was obviously standing, probably gesturing toward his mother's face, while the Virgin's left arm would have encircled her son and her right hand probably held a flower.
The unusually large size of the group, and the manner in which the deep folds of the drapery accentuate the form of the Virgin's body create an overall sense of monumentality. The delicately carved face, with its engaging smile, suggests an origin in the Ile de France under the influence of the workshops responsible for the Virgin and Child from the Sainte Chapelle (circa 1260-1270, see Gaborit-Chopin, op. cit., no. 100) and the famous Smiling Angels from the west façade of Reims cathedral (for an illustration of one of the latter see P. Williamson, Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300, New Haven and London, 1995, fig. 236).
Although Koechlin illustrates a number of these seated groups (loc. cit.), the present example is unusual in the positioning of the Virgin's upper body and head. Whereas the majority of groups depict the Virgin pulling back from Christ, or with the head tilted forward in shadow, the present example would have created a very intimate sense of engagement between mother and son through the relatively forward position of the shoulders and the gentle backward incline of the head. This latter feature in particular allows the light to fall on the smiling face, and 'opens' it to both Christ and the viewer. The closest example of this configuration is on an ivory in the Bargello, Florence, which Koechlin dates to the late 13th or early 14th century (op. cit., no. 77, I. intro. pp. 101-102, and pp. 34-35, II, pl. XXVII).
The unusually large size of the group, and the manner in which the deep folds of the drapery accentuate the form of the Virgin's body create an overall sense of monumentality. The delicately carved face, with its engaging smile, suggests an origin in the Ile de France under the influence of the workshops responsible for the Virgin and Child from the Sainte Chapelle (circa 1260-1270, see Gaborit-Chopin, op. cit., no. 100) and the famous Smiling Angels from the west façade of Reims cathedral (for an illustration of one of the latter see P. Williamson, Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300, New Haven and London, 1995, fig. 236).
Although Koechlin illustrates a number of these seated groups (loc. cit.), the present example is unusual in the positioning of the Virgin's upper body and head. Whereas the majority of groups depict the Virgin pulling back from Christ, or with the head tilted forward in shadow, the present example would have created a very intimate sense of engagement between mother and son through the relatively forward position of the shoulders and the gentle backward incline of the head. This latter feature in particular allows the light to fall on the smiling face, and 'opens' it to both Christ and the viewer. The closest example of this configuration is on an ivory in the Bargello, Florence, which Koechlin dates to the late 13th or early 14th century (op. cit., no. 77, I. intro. pp. 101-102, and pp. 34-35, II, pl. XXVII).