Virgin and Child

Reliefs such as this enthroned Virgin and Child originally would have been made to adorn the side of a chasse or a book cover. Stylistically the Lehman plaque corresponds closely to Limoges metalwork from the first half of the thirteenth century, and its decoration and the natural wear of the front relate to works of art from the Middle Ages. However, the authenticity of the piece is contradicted by scientific observations.(1) Unlike the majority of medieval Limoges appliqués, the Lehman relief has not been fabricated from a hammered and chased sheet of copper (repoussé) but cast, as revealed by close inspection of the reverse. Furthermore, it displays an unusual combination of toolmarks caused by spatulation and percussion. Yet the relief could not have been cast from a medieval original, as the decorations on the front clearly show chasing details such as stepping marks and tool striations.(2) The wear of the gilding makes an authentic impression; no signs of mechanical or chemical abrasion are detectable, as would be expected on a postmedieval fake or pastiche. Although these technical aspects seem contradictory, X-ray fluorescence analysis of the metal composition strongly points to a nineteenthcentury date of manufacture. According to Richard E. Stone, “both the copper and the gold are implausibly pure for medieval metal.”(3) It may be concluded that the relief is a very skillful pastiche of a Limoges plaque from about 1250 with an effective imitation of natural wear on the gilt surface. Given its provenance from the collection of the notorious Viennese and Parisian art dealer Frédéric Spitzer (1815 – 1890), it may be suggested that the Lehman appliqué was created in the middle or second half of the nineteenth century. Reinhold Vasters (1827 – 1909), the Aachen goldsmith whose activities as a forger were directly linked to Spitzer, may be excluded as the maker given his particular focus on goldsmith’s work in the Renaissance style.(4) The high quality of the relief and its proposed date also seem to discount the Paris-based dealer and forger Louis Marcy (1860 – 1945), who specialized in fakes of medieval metalwork.(5)

Catalogue entry from: Frits Scholten. The Robert Lehman Collection. European Sculpture and Metalwork, Vol. XII. Frits Scholten, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2011, pp. 227-228.

Notes:
1. For comparable Limoges works and decorations from the thirteenth century, see Émaux limousins du Musée National de l’Ermitage de Saint-Pétersbourg. Exhibition, Musée Municipal de l’Évêché, 2004. Catalogue. Limoges, 2004, no. 31 (appliqué on a chasse), no. 35; Enamels of Limoges, 1100 – 1350. Exhibition, Musée du Louvre, 23 October 1995 – 22 January 1996; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5 March – 16 June 1996. Catalogue by Marie-Madeleine Gauthier et al. New York, 1996, no. 61 (similar pattern on pillow), no. 118 (chasse with Virgin and Child enthroned).
2. Information kindly provided by Richard E. Stone, conservator emeritus, Objects Conservation Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, email, 16 December 2010.
3. Information kindly provided by Richard E. Stone, email, 14 December 2010: “The copper of the reverse shows significant amounts of mercury and a strikingly minor amount of lead. There are the usual traces of iron and nickel but only scantly detectable silver, and if there is any tin or antimony present, it is lost in the background. The gilding shows copper, mercury and, of course, gold, but no more silver than the copper itself. In other words, both the copper and the gold are implausibly pure for medieval metal. On basis of the range of impurities alone I would most probably date it to the first half of 19th century, that is, after the use of oxidizing basic fluxes but before electrolysis. While fire-refined copper was still being used in the 20th century, they certainly could get the silver out of gold even earlier. Of course, one can always make excuses for it, native copper, very low-silver alluvial gold etc. but for two elements the odds are remote indeed.”
4. Truman, Charles. "Reinhold Vasters: ‘The Last of the Goldsmiths’?" Connoisseur 200 (March), 1979, pp. 154 – 61; Hackenbroch, Yvonne. "Reinhold Vasters: Goldsmith." Metropolitan Museum Journal 19 – 20 (1984 – 85; pub. 1986), pp. 163 – 268; Fake? The Art of Deception. Exhibition, British Museum. Catalogue edited by Mark Jones, with Paul Craddock and Nicolas Barker. London, 1990, pp. 200 – 204; Tait, Hugh. "Reinhold Vasters: Goldsmith, Restorer and Prolific Faker." In Why Fakes Matter: Essays on Problems of Authenticity, edited by Mark Jones, pp. 116 – 33. London, 1992.
5. Fake? The Art of Deception. Exhibition, British Museum. Catalogue edited by Mark Jones, with Paul Craddock and Nicolas Barker. London, 1990, pp. 185 – 87; Campbell, Marian and Claude Blair. "‘Vive le Vol’: Louis Marcy, Anarchist and Faker." In Why Fakes Matter: Essays on the Problems of Authenticity, edited by Mark Jones, pp. 134 – 47. London, 1992. See also 1975.1.1479.

[Frédéric Spitzer, Paris]; Spitzer Legacies sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 9 January 1929, lot 461. Acquired by Philip Lehman from the Spitzer sale.