ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN III PÉNICAUD, THIRD QUARTER 16TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF PARCEL-GILT OVAL ENAMEL PLAQUES OF MYTHOLOGICAL SCENES
ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN III PÉNICAUD, THIRD QUARTER 16TH CENTURY
Each scene painted in blue and white enamel, depicting Venus and Cupid, and Jupiter seated at a table accompanied by maenads; each in a later elaborate pierced gilt-metal frame; minor chips to the enamel and wear to the gilding
10 1/8 in. (25.6 cm.) high, the plaques; 13½ in. (34.3 cm.) high, the frames (2)

Provenance

Ewart Bradshaw collection, Greyfriars, Fulwood, Lancs. (for the enamel with Jupiter).

Literature

P. Verdier, Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967, pp. xix-xx, nos. 56, 59.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

In terms of style and composition the two present enamels relate very closely to two works in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, by Jean III Pénicaud (loc. cit.). The attribution of the present enamels to Pénicaud is based on the virtually indentical facial features of all the female figures on the tazza (ibid, no. 56.) in the above collection, as well as their anatomies and the painter's confidence in leaving large areas of background undecorated. This latter, highly distinctive stylistic trait, is of particular interest as it contradicts the general style of the Limoges enamellers at the time who were well known for their fastidious decoration of large areas of the background. Here, Pénicaud has given the figures in his compositions more prominence by leaving the background undecorated, thereby accentuating the strong contrast between the blue and white which, in turn, makes the figues more striking.

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