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Zoomorphic Dragon, an illuminated initial on a cutting from a noted Missal [Franconia or Alsace?, mid-13th century]
细节
Anonymous central European artist
Zoomorphic Dragon, an illuminated initial on a cutting from a noted Missal [Franconia or Alsace?, mid-13th century]
A highly decorative 13th-century zoomorphic initial, once owned by John Ruskin.
c.133 x 105mm, trimmed to follow the irregular outline of the outer frame, the main upright of the illuminated initial formed of a dragon, with another on the cross-bar, the verso with parts of 12 lines of text in two sizes of script, the smaller script allowing space for musical notation above each word, without staves, the edges with strips cut from a book or newspaper printed in a fraktur font (slight cracking of gold, and an inconspicuous repaired cut in the lower right corner). Provenance: (1) Unidentified 19th-century German collection (traces of German printed text stuck to the reverse). (2) John Ruskin (1819–1900) (see J.S. Dearden, The Library of John Ruskin, 2012, p. 180 no 1388), presented with two other cuttings from the same manuscript (one of which was resold at Sotheby’s, 5 December 2000, lot 8, and is now at Strasbourg in the Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire), to his close friend and secretary: (3) Laurence Jermyn Hilliard (1855–87), painter; by descent to: (4) M.E. Hilliard; his sale at Sotheby’s, 16 May 1955, lot 74; bought by Heinrich Eisemann, book dealer, who sold it to: (5) Eric Korner (1893–1980), his no 6; by descent to his heirs; sold at Sotheby’s, 19 June 1990, lot 4 (with col. pl.), presumably to: (6) Christopher Cone & Stanley J. Seeger; their sale at Sotheby’s, 30 October 2018, lot 154.
Text and illumination: The text and music on the reverse consists of parts of the Offertory, Secret, and Communion for the first Sunday in Advent: the illuminated initial was therefore undoubtedly the first initial in the parent volume: ‘Ad te levavi animam meam [...]’.
This cutting and two others, all formerly owned by John Ruskin, are of uncertain origin but Alsace, Franconia, and Würzburg have all been suggested. Seymour de Ricci stated that an extremely similar cutting of a foliate and dragon initial formerly in the Lehman Collection (Census, II, 1937, p. 1707) was from the same manuscript as an initial with a bust of a female saint (now in the McCarthy Collection), which in turn is very similar to a cutting with an initial depicting the Trinity (now at the Art Institute Chicago, see C. de Hamel, The Medieval World at Our Fingertips, 2018, no 2, attributed to southwest Germany, probably Würzburg, c.1250). The whole group is discussed in P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, II (2019), no 44.
Zoomorphic Dragon, an illuminated initial on a cutting from a noted Missal [Franconia or Alsace?, mid-13th century]
A highly decorative 13th-century zoomorphic initial, once owned by John Ruskin.
c.133 x 105mm, trimmed to follow the irregular outline of the outer frame, the main upright of the illuminated initial formed of a dragon, with another on the cross-bar, the verso with parts of 12 lines of text in two sizes of script, the smaller script allowing space for musical notation above each word, without staves, the edges with strips cut from a book or newspaper printed in a fraktur font (slight cracking of gold, and an inconspicuous repaired cut in the lower right corner). Provenance: (1) Unidentified 19th-century German collection (traces of German printed text stuck to the reverse). (2) John Ruskin (1819–1900) (see J.S. Dearden, The Library of John Ruskin, 2012, p. 180 no 1388), presented with two other cuttings from the same manuscript (one of which was resold at Sotheby’s, 5 December 2000, lot 8, and is now at Strasbourg in the Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire), to his close friend and secretary: (3) Laurence Jermyn Hilliard (1855–87), painter; by descent to: (4) M.E. Hilliard; his sale at Sotheby’s, 16 May 1955, lot 74; bought by Heinrich Eisemann, book dealer, who sold it to: (5) Eric Korner (1893–1980), his no 6; by descent to his heirs; sold at Sotheby’s, 19 June 1990, lot 4 (with col. pl.), presumably to: (6) Christopher Cone & Stanley J. Seeger; their sale at Sotheby’s, 30 October 2018, lot 154.
Text and illumination: The text and music on the reverse consists of parts of the Offertory, Secret, and Communion for the first Sunday in Advent: the illuminated initial was therefore undoubtedly the first initial in the parent volume: ‘Ad te levavi animam meam [...]’.
This cutting and two others, all formerly owned by John Ruskin, are of uncertain origin but Alsace, Franconia, and Würzburg have all been suggested. Seymour de Ricci stated that an extremely similar cutting of a foliate and dragon initial formerly in the Lehman Collection (Census, II, 1937, p. 1707) was from the same manuscript as an initial with a bust of a female saint (now in the McCarthy Collection), which in turn is very similar to a cutting with an initial depicting the Trinity (now at the Art Institute Chicago, see C. de Hamel, The Medieval World at Our Fingertips, 2018, no 2, attributed to southwest Germany, probably Würzburg, c.1250). The whole group is discussed in P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, II (2019), no 44.
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注意事项
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
荣誉呈献
Julian Wilson
Senior Specialist, Books, Maps & Manuscripts