ATTRIBUTED TO THE MASTER I.C., LATE 16TH OR EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Like so many of the enamelling dynasties of Limoges, there were several members of the Court family who had the same name and who monogrammed their creations in the same way: 'I.C.'. It appears that the first enameller with this name, who also suffixed it with Vigier, is referred to in documents from 1541. He may be the same man who married Sybille Veyrinaud, and was dead before 1564 (Baratte, op. cit., p. 318). This would correspond with a small number of enamels which are signed in full and dated to the years 1555-1558, including the basin formerly in the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé (sold Christie's, Paris, 23-25 February 2009, lot 525). It is likely, however, that the I.C. who monogrammed the dish offered here, generally known as the Master I.C., could be the Jean Court I (or Jean de Court) who applied similar monograms to his works. In looking at the style and quality of painting, along with the overall complexity of the composition, there can be no doubt that the I.C. who painted the present dish was the same enameller who painted the series of seven plates in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (illustrated in Barrate, op. cit., p. 350-7, nos. N1355 - 60 and OA 959).