Anonymous German artist
Penwork initial ‘P’ on a leaf from an antiphonal [Upper Rhine, ?Freiburg, 1st half 14th century]
An impressive initial on a large antiphonal leaf, wonderfully decorated with grotesques and intricate penwork. The elaborate decoration of the leaf is similar to that seen in a manuscript produced by the Cistercian monks of Hauterive Abbey in Freiburg (Freiburg, Kantons- und Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. L 523): the shared motifs – including roundels populated by ivy-leaf-tailed grotesques – and palette suggest a common place of production.

Provenance:
•As well as dating the leaf to 1320, a modern pencil note on the recto suggests that the leaf may be from the Adelhausen nunnery of Freiburg im Breisgau (founded c. 1234, incorporated into the Dominican order in 1245). The house flourished at the beginning of the 14th century – most notably under the tenure of its sixth prioress, Anna von Munzingen (1316-1317, 1319-1327), author of the Adelhausen Schwesternbuch (a manuscript chronicling the mystical experiences of the nuns) – it was then that a series of choirbooks were commission for the community (Freiburg, Augustiner Museum, Inv. Nr. 11722-11729). The choirbooks in question are of similar dimensions and decoration to the present leaf, giving credibility to this attribution (C. Gottwald, Die Musikhandschriften der Universitätsbibliothek und anderer öffentlicher Sammlungen in Freiburg im Breisgau und Umgebung, 1979, pp. 142-152).
•A note on the verso gives the leaf as formerly in the ‘Hunt Collection, Dublin’ – perhaps that of John and Gertrude Hunt, antique dealers and collectors, whose important collection of approximately 2,000 works of art and antiquities has been on display at the Hunt Museum in Limerick since 1997.
•Private collection, London.

502 x 373mm. The initial ‘P’ opening the response for vespers in the second Sunday in September, ‘Peto domine’. Mounted.

θ Please see our Conditions of Sale for definitions of cataloguing symbols.

Please note this lot is the property of a private consignor.

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