A FINE AND RARE FRENCH CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL, PARCEL-GILT COPPER EUCHARISTIC DOVE, circa 1200, Limoges

constructed of two separate enameled wings pinned to the body, the hinged lid on the back fitted with a pull and opening to reveal an oval receptacle for the Host, the tail enameled en suite to the wings and further engraved with feathers on the underside, the balance engraved throughout, set with blue glass eyes and resting on a 19th century enameled and engraved base decorated with a central rosette encircled by a floral chain motif and undulating bands, the central medallion with four faceted arms extending upward.

Frederic Spitzer, Paris, to 1893

Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York

Leo Mortimer Schiff, New York, 1893-1931

John Mortimer Schiff, 1931-1939

Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, No. 39:2

Loan Exhibition of Religious Art, Jacques Seligmann and Co., New York, 1927, cat. pl. XXXII

Master Bronzes, Albright Art Gallery, 1937, cat. no. 116 (illus.)

Religious Art from Byzantium to Chagall, 1964, cat. no. 58 (illus.)

A Medieval Treasury, Andrew Dickson White Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, 1968, cat. no. 32 (illus.)

The Year 1200, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1970, cat. no. 166 (illus.)

Eucharistic Vessels of the Middle Ages, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, MA, 1975, cat. no. 17

La Collection Spitzer, Vol. I, Paris, 1890, p. 118, no. 65, pl. IX.

Ernest Rupin, L'oeuvre de Limoges, Vol. II, Paris, 1890, pp. 228-30 and 234, fig. 295 (illus.)

Aymer Vallance, "The Spitzer Collection," in The Art Journal, 1893, p. 188.

Art News, 4 June 1938, p. 9.

Catalogue of the collection formed by the late Mortimer L. Schiff, Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, 22-23 June 1938, no. 94 (illus.)

A.C. Ritchie, Catalogue of the Permanent Collection, Albright Art Gallery, 1949, p. 213, no. 231.

Medieval Art in Upstate New York, Everson Museum, Syracuse, 1974, p. 124.

The Courier-Express Sunday Magazine, April 7, 1974, p. 8.

Robert G.Calkins, Monuments of Medieval Art, New York, 1979, p. 119, fig. 103 (illus.)

Songs of Glory, Oklahoma Museum of Art (exh.cat.), 1985, p. 169, cat. no. 49.

RELATED LITERATURE

Barbara Drake Boehm, Elizabeth Taburet-Delahaye, Enamels of Limoges 1100-1350, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.

Mentmore, Vol. II: Works of Art and Silver, sold on behalf of the Estate of the late 6th Earl of Rosebery and his family, Sotheby's, London, 1977.

M.-M. Gauthier, "Colombe limousine prise aux rêts d'un 'antiquaire' bénédictin à Saint-German-des-Prés vers 1726," in Intuition und Kunstwissenschaft: Festschrift für Hanns Swarzenski zum 70. Geburtstag am 30. August 1973 [et.al.], Berlin, 1973, pp. 171-190.

General surface wear and abrasions. Gilding rubbed in areas. The left wing: two petal shaped feathers and approximately 1 inch of blue border have losses. Some very small surface chips to one rear feather. Some chips/small losses to enamel on tail feathers. Some old splits and small break to copper around tail feather and outer rim of tail (with some old soldering). The right wing: some losses to enamel on very back tip of wing. Some losses around two copper studs and some losses around outer blue border. The base plate appears to have been made circa 19th century and is similar to other documented bases. The legs may be later. Otherwise, overall wonderful quality colors and condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present Limoges enamel Eucharistic dove is an extremely rare example of Medieval metalwork. In the Middle Ages, Eucharistic doves were employed to hold the unused, consecrated Hosts above the altar. Although they were in existence in the 11th and 12th centuries, the majority of extant examples, like the present one, were manufactured in the 13th century in southwestern France.

The present piece can be closely compared with another important dove, incorporating similar colors and patterns of enameling in the plumes of the bird, from The Mariensift of Erfurt. Later purchased by Robert von Hirsch and subsequently sold at Sotheby's London in 1978, this wonderful bird, (fig.1) now in a private collection, shows the same use of four bands of color in the central and front sections of feathers, where many examples only have two or three. Both birds have a broad band of aqua-coloured enamelling, embellished with gilt geometric forms across the wings.

The present dove stands upon an enameled disk set onto a gilt copper plate with four arms extending upward. The same type of copper base with faceted, upturned arms (presumably used for the suspension) can be see on the dove in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see Boehm, op.cit., cat. no. 106, pp. 318-319). Both bases also have similar engraved stylized leaves at the join of the arms, as well as a wavy line encircling the edge. Both were made and attached to the doves in the 19th century. The Albright-Knox piece was once in the Spitzer collection, and this manner of combining early objects with expertly executed elements in the earlier style, was a common practice by him.

In 1973, Gauthier (Festschrift, op.cit., pp. 174-180) recorded 24 accepted enameled Eucharistic doves and produced a chronology for a number of the most important examples, ranging in date from 1200-1210. Gauthier compared the incised designs on one of these doves with the dated enamel of the Mozac châsse.

The present dove is close in technique and style to the examples cited by Gauthier made between 1200 and 1220, and its importance is increased by the fact that it still retains a great deal of its enamel as well as its gilt-copper interior receptacle. A Eucharistic dove has not come to the auction market in at least 25 years.