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Auction archive: Lot number 5

Anonymous Breton artists Anonymous Breton artists Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Brittany, c.1440]

Estimate
US$200,000 - US$300,000
Price realised:
US$300,000
Auction archive: Lot number 5

Anonymous Breton artists Anonymous Breton artists Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Brittany, c.1440]

Estimate
US$200,000 - US$300,000
Price realised:
US$300,000
Beschreibung:

Anonymous Breton artists Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Brittany, c.1440] A beautiful Hours with rich and unusual borders, closely related to Morgan Library MS M.157, and painted by two or more hands whose stylistic sources lie in the work of the Master of Marguerite d'Orléans, the Master of the Rohan Hours, and the Master of the Munich Golden Legend. 200 x 148mm. ii + 152 + ii leaves, collation: 112, 2-36, 46 (of 8, lacking iv and v), 56 (of 8, lacking i and viii), 67 (of 8, lacking i), 78, 89, (vii an inserted singleton), 97 (of 8, lacking viii), 10-128, 135 (i an inserted singleton), 14-158, 164, 176 (of 8, lacking i and viii), 186, 1910, 206, 218 (of 10, ix and x cancelled blanks), modern foliation in pencil 1-152 followed here, 15 lines, ruled space: 114 x 76mm, illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout, each page with an illuminated border of acanthus and foliate sprays, 12 calendar miniatures with the occupations of the month, 21 large miniatures within full, often inhabited, borders (lacking at least 8 leaves, of which probably 6 with miniatures: a bifolium after f.27, with suffrages and likely one miniature, a leaf with a suffrage and miniature after f.30, a text leaf with the end of the Obsecro te after f.36, a leaf with miniature and the opening of the Hours of the Virgin before f.37, a leaf with miniature opening prime after f.67, a leaf with miniature opening the Hours of the Cross after f.116, and a leaf with miniature opening the Office of the Dead after f.122; face of Virgin repainted in a pre-Raphaelite style in the 19th century on ff.81 and 91v). Brown blind-stamped morocco gilt by Rivière. Brown slip-case and quarter-morocco box, gilt lettering. Content: Calendar ff.1-12v; Gospel extracts ff.13-20v; prayer to the Virgin f.21-21v; Suffrages ff.21v-33; Obsecro te ff.34-36v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris, ff.37-96v: matins f.37, lauds f.58, prime f.68, terce f.73, sext f.77v, none f.81, vespers f.85, compline f.91v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.97-116v; Hours of the Cross ff.117-119; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.119v-122v; Office of the Dead, use of Paris, ff.123-152. Illumination: The programme of illumination has its roots in the work of the Rohan Master, the Master of the Munich Golden Legend, and the Master of Marguerite d’Orléans. As with lot 4, the exuberant border decoration ties this manuscript to a small group of Hours likely produced in northwestern France. One of the most splendid and extravagant of these borders can be found surrounding the Annunciation to the Shepherds on f.73: we see a rainy scene with large silver raindrops falling from dark clouds in the upper margin into a pool with swans and cygnets in the lower margin. Compositionally, this is inspired by a similar border by the Master of the Munich Golden Legend in the Coronation miniature in a Book of Hours in Milan (Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. Triv. 2164, f.94) and is replicated almost identically in Morgan Library MS M.157. Indeed, although painted by different artists, the compositional similarities between the present manuscript and the Morgan Hours are striking (compare, for example, the miniatures with St John on Patmos and the Visitation). As Plummer points out, the artists of these two Hours are very close, often sharing the same figure types, postures, and gestures. The influence of the Master of Marguerite d’Orléans is found throughout: we are grateful to François Avril for pointing out that the miniature of St Christopher (f.27) clearly depends on the same subject treated in another Book of Hours in Valence, illuminated in part by the Master (Médiathèque Publique et Universitaire de Valence, manuscrit MS 32). The giant saint is pictured in profile, and can be seen resting on his stick with both hands, painfully making his way through a swollen and agitated sea. On his shoulders, the Christ Child, equally in profile, blesses the hermit on the coast. The coas

Auction archive: Lot number 5
Auction:
Datum:
23 Apr 2021
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
Beschreibung:

Anonymous Breton artists Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Brittany, c.1440] A beautiful Hours with rich and unusual borders, closely related to Morgan Library MS M.157, and painted by two or more hands whose stylistic sources lie in the work of the Master of Marguerite d'Orléans, the Master of the Rohan Hours, and the Master of the Munich Golden Legend. 200 x 148mm. ii + 152 + ii leaves, collation: 112, 2-36, 46 (of 8, lacking iv and v), 56 (of 8, lacking i and viii), 67 (of 8, lacking i), 78, 89, (vii an inserted singleton), 97 (of 8, lacking viii), 10-128, 135 (i an inserted singleton), 14-158, 164, 176 (of 8, lacking i and viii), 186, 1910, 206, 218 (of 10, ix and x cancelled blanks), modern foliation in pencil 1-152 followed here, 15 lines, ruled space: 114 x 76mm, illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout, each page with an illuminated border of acanthus and foliate sprays, 12 calendar miniatures with the occupations of the month, 21 large miniatures within full, often inhabited, borders (lacking at least 8 leaves, of which probably 6 with miniatures: a bifolium after f.27, with suffrages and likely one miniature, a leaf with a suffrage and miniature after f.30, a text leaf with the end of the Obsecro te after f.36, a leaf with miniature and the opening of the Hours of the Virgin before f.37, a leaf with miniature opening prime after f.67, a leaf with miniature opening the Hours of the Cross after f.116, and a leaf with miniature opening the Office of the Dead after f.122; face of Virgin repainted in a pre-Raphaelite style in the 19th century on ff.81 and 91v). Brown blind-stamped morocco gilt by Rivière. Brown slip-case and quarter-morocco box, gilt lettering. Content: Calendar ff.1-12v; Gospel extracts ff.13-20v; prayer to the Virgin f.21-21v; Suffrages ff.21v-33; Obsecro te ff.34-36v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris, ff.37-96v: matins f.37, lauds f.58, prime f.68, terce f.73, sext f.77v, none f.81, vespers f.85, compline f.91v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.97-116v; Hours of the Cross ff.117-119; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.119v-122v; Office of the Dead, use of Paris, ff.123-152. Illumination: The programme of illumination has its roots in the work of the Rohan Master, the Master of the Munich Golden Legend, and the Master of Marguerite d’Orléans. As with lot 4, the exuberant border decoration ties this manuscript to a small group of Hours likely produced in northwestern France. One of the most splendid and extravagant of these borders can be found surrounding the Annunciation to the Shepherds on f.73: we see a rainy scene with large silver raindrops falling from dark clouds in the upper margin into a pool with swans and cygnets in the lower margin. Compositionally, this is inspired by a similar border by the Master of the Munich Golden Legend in the Coronation miniature in a Book of Hours in Milan (Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. Triv. 2164, f.94) and is replicated almost identically in Morgan Library MS M.157. Indeed, although painted by different artists, the compositional similarities between the present manuscript and the Morgan Hours are striking (compare, for example, the miniatures with St John on Patmos and the Visitation). As Plummer points out, the artists of these two Hours are very close, often sharing the same figure types, postures, and gestures. The influence of the Master of Marguerite d’Orléans is found throughout: we are grateful to François Avril for pointing out that the miniature of St Christopher (f.27) clearly depends on the same subject treated in another Book of Hours in Valence, illuminated in part by the Master (Médiathèque Publique et Universitaire de Valence, manuscrit MS 32). The giant saint is pictured in profile, and can be seen resting on his stick with both hands, painfully making his way through a swollen and agitated sea. On his shoulders, the Christ Child, equally in profile, blesses the hermit on the coast. The coas

Auction archive: Lot number 5
Auction:
Datum:
23 Apr 2021
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
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