The shape of this chasse, or container for the relics of a saint, is one of the most commonly produced during the Middle Ages, and the scenes of the Crucifixion, Christ in Majesty, and Apostles are so standard that it is impossible to say what relics it originally housed. The reliquary is remarkable for the richness of its palette (especially in the multicolored columns), the use of enamel to define the hands and feet of the figures, and the sophisticated engraving and stippling of the copper ground.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Chasse with The Crucifixion and Christ in Majesty
Date:ca. 1190
Geography:Made in Limoges, France
Culture:French
Medium:Champlevé enamel: dark, medium, and light blue; turquoise, green, yellow, opaque and translucent red, and white; wood core, painted red on exterior; copper: engraved, stippled and gilt.
Dimensions:Overall (crest removed): 6 9/16 x 8 1/4 x 3 5/16 in. (16.7 x 21 x 8.4 cm)
Classification:Enamels-Champlevé
Credit Line:Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941
Object Number:41.100.155
Inscription: (on front lid): A / W [Alpha / Omega]
(on front panel above Christ): XP[backwards S] / HPS [should be CHRISTUS IESUS] (Jesus Christ)
Alexis Joseph Febvre, Paris, sold 4/17-20, 1882, no.151, p.74); his postumous sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (sold 1882); [ Frédéric Spitzer (Austrian), Paris (sold 1893)]; his posthumous sale, Chevallier and Mannheim, Paris (April 17–June 16, 1893, no. 229); [ Charles & Cyrus Picard, Paris (from 1893)]; Michel Boy, Paris (sold 1905); his postumous sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris (May 15–24, 1905, no. 145); [ L. Daguerre, Paris]; George and Florence Blumenthal, Paris and New York (before 1926–1941)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces from the George Blumenthal Collection," December 8, 1943–?
Paris. Musée du Louvre. "L'Oeuvre de Limoges," October 23, 1995–January 22, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enamels of Limoges, 1100-1350," January 22–June 16, 1996.
La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité, Moyen-Age, Renaissance. Vol. I. Mâcon: Imprimerie Protat Frères, 1890–1891. Orfèvrerie religieuse 18, pp. 93–4.
Spitzer, Frédéric, ed. La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité -- Moyen-Age -- Renaissance. Vol. 1. Paris: Maison Quantin, 1890–1893. Orfèvrerie religieuse 18, pp. 102–3.
Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité: antiques, du moyen-âge & de la renaissance: composant l'importante et précieuse Collection Spitzer. Vol. 1. Paris: Chevallier and Mannheim, April 17–June 16, 1893. no. 229, p. 41, pl. VII.
Molinier, Emile, ed. Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance: Composant la Collection de feu M. Boy. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, May 15–24, 1905. no. 145, p. 27, ill. unnumbered pl.
Marquet de Vasselot, Jean-Joseph. Les émaux limousins à fond vermiculé (XIIe et XIIIe siècles). Paris: E. Leroux, 1906. pp. 22–23.
Rubenstein, Stella. "Some Limoges Reliquaries of the Late Twelfth Century." Arts & Decoration 7 (April 1917). p. 305, ill. p. 306.
Rubinstein-Bloch, Stella. Catalogue of the Collection of George and Florence Blumenthal, New York: Volume 3, Works of Art, Mediaeval and Renaissance. Paris: A. Lévy, 1926. pl. XI.
Gauthier, Marie-Madeleine. "Une Châsse limousine du dernier quart du XIIe siècle: Thèmes iconographiques composition et essai de chronologie." In Mélanges offerts à René Crozet... à l'occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire par ses amis, ses collèques, ses élèves et les membres du C.É.S.C.M., edited by Pierre Gallais, and Yves-Jean Riou. Vol. 2. Poitiers: Société d'études médiévales, 1966. no. C42, p. 951.
Gauthier, Marie-Madeleine. Émaux Méridionaux: Catalogue International de l'Oeuvre de Limoges; L'Époque Romane. Corpus des émaux méridionaux, Vol. I. Paris: Editions du centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1987. no. 220, pp. 188–89, pl. L, ill. 22 (color); pl. CXCVI, ill. 668–670.
Taburet-Delahaye, Elisabeth, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. L'Oeuvre de Limoges: Emaux limousins du Moyen Age. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1995. no. 28, pp. 136–137.
Boehm, Barbara Drake, and Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye, ed. Enamels of Limoges, 1100-1350. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. no. 28, pp. 136–37.
Boehm, Barbara Drake. "Le goût des Américains pour l'Œuvre de Limoges aux XIXe et XXe siècles." In L’Œuvre de Limoges et sa diffusion: Trésors, objets, collections, edited by Danielle Gaborit-Chopin, and Frédéric Tixier. Paris: Institut national d'histoire de l'art, 2011. pp. 129–30.
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