TAZZA WITH THE COAT OF ARMS OF CASTILE AND LEON

Details

LEONARD LIMOSIN (CIRCA 1505 - 1575/1577), 1548
TAZZA WITH THE COAT OF ARMS OF CASTILE AND LEON
Parcel-gilt polychrome enamel; signed with initials 'LL' in a gilt cartouche to the underside of the bowl; the bowl with two coats of arms supported by putti and with cartouche below dated '1548'; the underside of the foot with paper labels inscribed '3263', 'No 1360/ G de R', 'Brnne/ de Rothschild',' F. 103' and 'EXPOSITION LONDRES 1932/ Robert de Rothschild' and with red ink inscription 'E R'
7½ in. (19 cm.) diameter; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) high

Provenance

Collection Mme de La Sayette, Poitiers, sold 24-25 April 1860, no. 153, together with lot 27 (11,200 francs).
Collection Benjamin-Eugène Norzy, sold Paris, 12-13 February 1864, together with lot 27 (10,650 francs).
Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868), and by descent to
Baron Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911), recorded in the Hôtel de Marigny, Paris, in 1912, and by descent.

Literature

M. de Laborde, Notice des émaux exposés dans les galeries du Musée du Louvre, 1852, p. 167.
M. Ardent, 'Emaux de la collection de Mme de La Sayette', in Bulletin de la Société archéologie du Limousin, 1860, t.XI.
‘Vente de la collection de Mme de La Sayette’, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 15 May 1860, p. 245.
L. Boudery and E. Lachenaud, L'oeuvre des peintres émailleurs de Limoges; Léonard Limosin, peintre de portraits, Paris, 1897, no. 62, pp. 154-7.
The Rothschild Archive, London - Inventaire après le Décès de Monsieur le Baron Gustave de Rothschild, A. Cottin Notaire, 26 April - 10 June 1912, no. 320, 4,000 francs (Hôtel de Marigny, Galerie).
S. Baratte, Les Emaux peints de Limoges, Paris, 2000, pp. 162-175.
S. Higgott, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Glass and Limoges Painted Enamels, London, 2011, no. 75.

Exhibited

Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1852.
Paris, Palais de l'Industrie, Exposition de 1865, Musée Rétrospectif, no. 2455.
Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1867, no. 2898.
Paris, Trocadero, Exposition Universelle, Exposition Rétrospective de l'Art Français, 1889, no. 1063.
London, Royal Academy, Exhibition of French Art 1200-1900, 1932, no. 568d.

Brought to you by

Paul Gallois

pgallois@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2260

Lot Essay

In 1548 Limosin was appointed Valet de Chambre and Emailleur du Roi although he had been working for the French court from at least 1536. The interior of the present tazza shows the coat of arms of Castile and León. The kingdoms of Castile and León were united by Ferdinand III in 1230 although they maintained separate parliaments well into the 19th century. The inclusion of a coat-of-arms in such a prominent position was unusual and the tazza must have been made for a specific event. One important celebration in 1548 that could be relevant to its commission was the marriage of Maria of Austria (1528-1603), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V, to her first cousin Archduke Maximilian, son of Ferdinand I and himself the future Holy Roman Emperor.

Limosin was an exponent of the Fontainebleau style, begun by Italian painters working in France and characterized by elegant forms, attenuated figures and decorative strapwork. The graceful figures surrounding the coat-of-arms can be compared to numerous such playful putti that typify Limosin's Italianate influences (see S. Barratte, loc. cit.). When in the de La Sayette and Norzy collections the present tazza was paired with a lid also signed by Limosin (lot 27), but by 1865 the discrepancies in the style and fit of the cup and cover had been noticed by Labarte and they were listed separately. Verdier later affirmed the different origins of the cup and cover, after they had been re-paired when in the Rothschild collection.

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