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The Prophet Zechariah, in a historiated initial on a leaf from a Bible [England, probably Oxford, 3rd quarter 13th century]
细节
Anonymous Oxford artist
The Prophet Zechariah, in a historiated initial on a leaf from a Bible [England, probably Oxford, 3rd quarter 13th century]
An illuminated leaf from a 13th-century Oxford Bible with extensive English and Scottish provenance.
c.187 x 131mm, two columns of 54 lines, ruled space c.135 x 85mm, the text comprising Haggai 1:8 to the end, the usual prologue to Zecharaiah, and Zechariah 1:1–17, the prologue illuminated with an initial incorporating dragon heads, the biblical book with a historiated initial extending the full height of the text, depicting the Prophet Zechariah wearing pointed Jewish headgear, looking up towards, and pointing to, the start of the text; the columns numbered in medieval ink Arabic numerals, ‘1359’–‘1362’ (the column-numbering cropped on the verso, small stains from mounting tape, slight cockling). Provenance: (1) The parent volume was probably produced in Oxford: the style of illumination is English, and Oxford seems to have been the main centre for the production of such Bibles; the numbering of the columns with 13th-century Arabic numerals also suggests use in an academic environment. (2) Owned in the 14th century by an unidentified English Carthusian house: the parent volume had a note referring to use in the refectory, and notes indicating liturgical readings, including the letters ‘p’, ‘s’, and ‘t’ (for primus, secundus, tertius); the present leaf has ‘p’ next to Zechariah 1:1. There were only eight Carthusian houses in England before the 15th century, six of them founded between 1343 and 1398. (3) 16th-century names and ownership notes. (4) Charles Manning, late 18th or early 19th century. (5) Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781–1851), who ‘resided in Edinburgh as an eccentric literary recluse and friend of Sir Walter Scott’. (6) Sir John Jaffray (1818–1901), Scottish journalist and newspaper proprietor. (7) Sotheby’s, 14 October 1946, lot 147; bought by: (8) A.G. Thomas (1911–1992), English bookseller; kept for more than 25 years as part of his personal collection; reproduced in his Fine Books, 1967, fig. 20; and included in the posthumous sale of his library at Sotheby’s, 22 June 1993, lot 6 (‘the book is certainly English and may be Oxford work’; the present leaf was f.254), bought by Fogg; broken up probably by Bruce Ferrini, with his erased pencil stock number. (9) Sotheby’s, 6 December 2001, lot 12.
The standing figure of Zechariah is extremely tall and attenuated, but this is more a feature of the fact that it is an initial ‘I’, for which the scribe left a space 29 lines high, than the artist’s normal style, as can be seen by comparison with figures on other leaves from the same manuscript. The secondary decoration is typical of mid-13th-century Oxford Bibles, and the facial style, with arched eyebrows over round staring eyes, can be found in the work of William de Brailes and other contemporary Oxford illuminators. The Bible is discussed and illuminated leaves are listed in P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, II (2019), no 11; citing the present leaf on p.62.
The Prophet Zechariah, in a historiated initial on a leaf from a Bible [England, probably Oxford, 3rd quarter 13th century]
An illuminated leaf from a 13th-century Oxford Bible with extensive English and Scottish provenance.
c.187 x 131mm, two columns of 54 lines, ruled space c.135 x 85mm, the text comprising Haggai 1:8 to the end, the usual prologue to Zecharaiah, and Zechariah 1:1–17, the prologue illuminated with an initial incorporating dragon heads, the biblical book with a historiated initial extending the full height of the text, depicting the Prophet Zechariah wearing pointed Jewish headgear, looking up towards, and pointing to, the start of the text; the columns numbered in medieval ink Arabic numerals, ‘1359’–‘1362’ (the column-numbering cropped on the verso, small stains from mounting tape, slight cockling). Provenance: (1) The parent volume was probably produced in Oxford: the style of illumination is English, and Oxford seems to have been the main centre for the production of such Bibles; the numbering of the columns with 13th-century Arabic numerals also suggests use in an academic environment. (2) Owned in the 14th century by an unidentified English Carthusian house: the parent volume had a note referring to use in the refectory, and notes indicating liturgical readings, including the letters ‘p’, ‘s’, and ‘t’ (for primus, secundus, tertius); the present leaf has ‘p’ next to Zechariah 1:1. There were only eight Carthusian houses in England before the 15th century, six of them founded between 1343 and 1398. (3) 16th-century names and ownership notes. (4) Charles Manning, late 18th or early 19th century. (5) Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781–1851), who ‘resided in Edinburgh as an eccentric literary recluse and friend of Sir Walter Scott’. (6) Sir John Jaffray (1818–1901), Scottish journalist and newspaper proprietor. (7) Sotheby’s, 14 October 1946, lot 147; bought by: (8) A.G. Thomas (1911–1992), English bookseller; kept for more than 25 years as part of his personal collection; reproduced in his Fine Books, 1967, fig. 20; and included in the posthumous sale of his library at Sotheby’s, 22 June 1993, lot 6 (‘the book is certainly English and may be Oxford work’; the present leaf was f.254), bought by Fogg; broken up probably by Bruce Ferrini, with his erased pencil stock number. (9) Sotheby’s, 6 December 2001, lot 12.
The standing figure of Zechariah is extremely tall and attenuated, but this is more a feature of the fact that it is an initial ‘I’, for which the scribe left a space 29 lines high, than the artist’s normal style, as can be seen by comparison with figures on other leaves from the same manuscript. The secondary decoration is typical of mid-13th-century Oxford Bibles, and the facial style, with arched eyebrows over round staring eyes, can be found in the work of William de Brailes and other contemporary Oxford illuminators. The Bible is discussed and illuminated leaves are listed in P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, II (2019), no 11; citing the present leaf on p.62.
注意事项
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荣誉呈献
Julian Wilson
Senior Specialist, Books, Maps & Manuscripts