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Auction archive: Lot number 29

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM

Auction 09.07.2001
9 Jul 2001
Estimate
£40,000 - £60,000
ca. US$56,567 - US$84,851
Price realised:
£63,150
ca. US$89,305
Auction archive: Lot number 29

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM

Auction 09.07.2001
9 Jul 2001
Estimate
£40,000 - £60,000
ca. US$56,567 - US$84,851
Price realised:
£63,150
ca. US$89,305
Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Paris, c.1500] 190 x 125mm. 136 leaves: 1-2 6, 3 8, 4 4 (iii and iv singletons, iv with a miniature), 5-11 8, 12 2, 13-17 8, 18 8, 19 6, COMPLETE, vertical catchwords along the inner vertical of final versos, 20 lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 21 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 122 x 68mm, rubrics in pink, capitals touched yellow, one-line initials of burnished gold with grounds and infills of blue with white penwork decoration and pink with gold decoration, line-endings of the same colours, two- to four-line initials of blue or red on grounds of burnished gold with ivy-leaf sprays or paired disks of red and blue in the infill, PANEL BORDERS THROUGHOUT mostly with divided grounds with sprays of blue and gold acanthus against unpainted vellum and shaped fields of liquid gold with sprays of naturalistic flowers or fruit, a few with foliage sprays against coloured fields and others against continuous liquid gold, TWENTY-FOUR CALENDAR MINIATURES within full-page architectural borders, FULL-PAGE MINIATURE OF ADAM AND EVE in an architectural border, FOURTEEN LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with full-page borders and FIFTEEN SMALL MINIATURES (slight wear to the liquid gold grounds of a few borders, sewing holes from pilgrim badges in the lower margins and staining to the tops of ff.134-136). Citron morocco by Capé with multi-coloured onlays to a French 16th-century strapwork design. PROVENANCE: 1. The style of illumination, the Feasts of the Calendar and the use of both the Offices of the Virgin and the Dead indicate that the manuscript was made in and intended for use in Paris. CONTENT: Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.13-18; Obsecro te and O Intemerata ff.18v-23v; Office of the Virgin, use of Paris ff.25-77: matins f.25, lauds f.43, prime f.52, terce f.57, sext f.60v, none f.64, vespers f.67, compline f.73; Hours of the Cross ff.77v-80; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.80v-82v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.83-96v; Office of the Dead, use of Paris ff.97-129; Suffrages ff.129v-137: to the Trinity f.129v, to Sts Michael f.130, John the Baptist f.130v, James the Great f.131, Sebastian f.131v, Christopher f.132v, Nicholas f.134, Mary Magdalene f.134v, Catherine f.135v, Barbara f.136v. ILLUMINATION: This handsome and richly decorated manuscript is a fine example of Parisian book production at the end of the 15th century. By this time Paris was an established centre for the production of printed Hours. Whereas the printed book was seen as a threat in other centres of manuscript production -- there had been attempts to ban their sale in Rouen -- in Paris it served as another arena of employment for illuminators and the greatest Parisian illuminators worked in printed as well as manuscript books. The miniatures of this Hours are by a follower of Jean Pichore Pichore is known to have published a printed Hours, and his role in the design of cuts for printed books is much discussed. Not only the style of decoration but the form and content could be common to both printed and manuscript books, and some of the features introduced into printed Hours were adopted in manuscript Hours too. The profusion of printed decoration and illustration so readily and cheaply possible with wood or metal cuts seems to have spurred the producers of manuscripts to compete by providing copiously illuminated Hours without their being specially commissioned. The present manuscript is a fine example of this type. Every opportunity for illustration and decoration is taken. As well as the small and large miniatures planned for by the scribe, there are panel borders on every page, marginal scenes of occupations and of the zodiac signs in the Calendar, and an inserted full-page miniature of the Fall of Man (f.24v) faces the opening of the Office of the Virgin. Eve is shown taking the apple from the female serpent twined arou

Auction archive: Lot number 29
Auction:
Datum:
9 Jul 2001
Auction house:
Christie's
London, King Street
Beschreibung:

BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Paris, c.1500] 190 x 125mm. 136 leaves: 1-2 6, 3 8, 4 4 (iii and iv singletons, iv with a miniature), 5-11 8, 12 2, 13-17 8, 18 8, 19 6, COMPLETE, vertical catchwords along the inner vertical of final versos, 20 lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand between two verticals and 21 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 122 x 68mm, rubrics in pink, capitals touched yellow, one-line initials of burnished gold with grounds and infills of blue with white penwork decoration and pink with gold decoration, line-endings of the same colours, two- to four-line initials of blue or red on grounds of burnished gold with ivy-leaf sprays or paired disks of red and blue in the infill, PANEL BORDERS THROUGHOUT mostly with divided grounds with sprays of blue and gold acanthus against unpainted vellum and shaped fields of liquid gold with sprays of naturalistic flowers or fruit, a few with foliage sprays against coloured fields and others against continuous liquid gold, TWENTY-FOUR CALENDAR MINIATURES within full-page architectural borders, FULL-PAGE MINIATURE OF ADAM AND EVE in an architectural border, FOURTEEN LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with full-page borders and FIFTEEN SMALL MINIATURES (slight wear to the liquid gold grounds of a few borders, sewing holes from pilgrim badges in the lower margins and staining to the tops of ff.134-136). Citron morocco by Capé with multi-coloured onlays to a French 16th-century strapwork design. PROVENANCE: 1. The style of illumination, the Feasts of the Calendar and the use of both the Offices of the Virgin and the Dead indicate that the manuscript was made in and intended for use in Paris. CONTENT: Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel Extracts ff.13-18; Obsecro te and O Intemerata ff.18v-23v; Office of the Virgin, use of Paris ff.25-77: matins f.25, lauds f.43, prime f.52, terce f.57, sext f.60v, none f.64, vespers f.67, compline f.73; Hours of the Cross ff.77v-80; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.80v-82v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.83-96v; Office of the Dead, use of Paris ff.97-129; Suffrages ff.129v-137: to the Trinity f.129v, to Sts Michael f.130, John the Baptist f.130v, James the Great f.131, Sebastian f.131v, Christopher f.132v, Nicholas f.134, Mary Magdalene f.134v, Catherine f.135v, Barbara f.136v. ILLUMINATION: This handsome and richly decorated manuscript is a fine example of Parisian book production at the end of the 15th century. By this time Paris was an established centre for the production of printed Hours. Whereas the printed book was seen as a threat in other centres of manuscript production -- there had been attempts to ban their sale in Rouen -- in Paris it served as another arena of employment for illuminators and the greatest Parisian illuminators worked in printed as well as manuscript books. The miniatures of this Hours are by a follower of Jean Pichore Pichore is known to have published a printed Hours, and his role in the design of cuts for printed books is much discussed. Not only the style of decoration but the form and content could be common to both printed and manuscript books, and some of the features introduced into printed Hours were adopted in manuscript Hours too. The profusion of printed decoration and illustration so readily and cheaply possible with wood or metal cuts seems to have spurred the producers of manuscripts to compete by providing copiously illuminated Hours without their being specially commissioned. The present manuscript is a fine example of this type. Every opportunity for illustration and decoration is taken. As well as the small and large miniatures planned for by the scribe, there are panel borders on every page, marginal scenes of occupations and of the zodiac signs in the Calendar, and an inserted full-page miniature of the Fall of Man (f.24v) faces the opening of the Office of the Virgin. Eve is shown taking the apple from the female serpent twined arou

Auction archive: Lot number 29
Auction:
Datum:
9 Jul 2001
Auction house:
Christie's
London, King Street
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