Name: LIMOGES, 13TH CENTURY
Brand: A liturgical element, possibly a reliquary
Price: 2800.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

LIMOGES, 13TH CENTURY
A liturgical element, possibly a reliquary
gilt-copper, enamel, silvered metal and rock crystal; of quadrilobed form; the rock crystal cabochon covering a paper label indistinctly inscribed ‘…ARI…’; the reverse engraved with foliate decoration
3³⁄₈ x 3¹⁄₈ in. (8.7 x 8 cm. )

Franz Koenigs (1881-1941), and by descent to the present owners.

Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

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Lot Essay

Limoges, France was the most important centre of champlevé enamel production during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The technique was used predominately as decoration for liturgical objects as is the case for the present lot which is likely to have originally been part of a larger object, perhaps a cross or brooch, and has since been repurposed. The rock crystal cabochon at the centre covering a small inscribed piece of paper, of which now only three letters are legible (‘ARI’ perhaps originally ‘MARIA’), suggests that it once concealed a holy relic.