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An English Alabaster relief of the Nativity first half 15th century, Nottingham
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 USD
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Description
- height 16in.; width 8 3/4 in.
- (40.6cm; 22.2cm)
carved in two registers, the lower with the Nativity, the upper register with the angel leading the shepherds.
Provenance
Marchese degli Albizi, Florence, 1928
Mr. Sigmund Morgenroth
Mr. Sigmund Morgenroth
Literature
RELATED LITERATURE:
Francis Cheetham, English Medieval Alabasters, Oxford, 1984
Francis Cheetham, Alabaster Images of Medieval England, Trowbridge, Wilts, 2003
Francis Cheetham, English Medieval Alabasters, Oxford, 1984
Francis Cheetham, Alabaster Images of Medieval England, Trowbridge, Wilts, 2003
Catalogue Note
The present alabaster is a rare example of a Nativity incorporating two registers, with two distinct scenes. The composition itself is not documented in either of Francis Cheetham's seminal volumes on Nottingham alabasters. The standard depiction includes the Virgin in her bed with the Child in her lap or the Virgin standing and gazing at the Child lying in a mandorla-form bed. The present lot is less stylized than the latter of the aforementioned types and much more whimsical with the incorpration of the shepherds above.