France, Limoges, vers 1200

Collection Joseph Homberg, Londres
vente Sotheby's, Londres, 19 juillet 1949, lot  56  

Good condition overall. General wear to the gilding of the copper elements, especially to the seated figures on the roof and the heads in high relief, consistent with age and handling. Very minor chips to the enamel background. Crest and a few nails (fixing the copper plaques to the wooden core) missing. The reliquary chasse has an opening on the underside where the door is missing.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Sur la face principale et le toit, sont représentés six apôtres assis dans une mandorle. En réserve sur cuivre doré (sauf les têtes qui sont en relief ils se détachent sur un fond bleu lapis émaillé orné de rosaces. Au revers se trouve un décor de quadrilobes cerclés, inscrits dans des carrés. Sur les pignons, deux saints sur un fond bleu à décor de rinceaux se tiennent debout.

Cette châsse se rattache à l' œuvre émaillée de Limoges entre 1190 et 1215 par des éléments stylistiques comme les mandorles avec des figures assises aux têtes appliquées sur fond bleu lapis, le motif floral à six pétales reliant les mandorles entre elles. Hormis les figures d'apôtres, aucune scène historiée ne permet d'identifier les reliques du saint que la châsse de la collection Dormeuil contenait à l'origine. On connaît deux autres exemplaires de ce type: une châsse avec un Christ en Majesté au Museo del Archaeologico de Burgos (Gauthier, 1972) et une autre conservée au musée du Mans (Rupin, 1890, fig. 397) avec les apôtres inscrits dans des quadrilobes au lieu de mandorles.

REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES
M. M. Gauthier, Emaux du Moyen Age, Fribourg, 1972, no. 47.
E. Rupin, L'œuvre de Limoges, Paris, 1890, pl. 32 et fig. 397.

FRENCH, LIMOGES, CIRCA 1200
A CHAMPLEVE ENAMEL RELIQUARY CHASSE WITH SIX APOSTLES

The front panel and front roof depicts six apostles seated within mandorlas with applied heads in relief both enamelled with a lapis coloured ground. The side panels incorporate a standing saint and the back is adorned with quatrefoils within squares.

The châsse displays features which are typical of Limoges production between 1190-1215: mandorlas within a lapis blue ground enclosing gilt figures with applied heads and circles engraved with hexafoil floral knops with hatched centres. The narrative element is absent and with the depiction of six apostles and further saints it is impossible to identify the saint whose relics the châsse would have contained. The châsse can be compared with another centred by Christ in Majesty in the Archeological Museum in Burgos illustrated by Gauthier (1972). A further comparison can be drawn with the châsse in the Musée de Mans, illustrated by Rupin, which incorporates full length figures of saints within quatrefoils rather than mandorlas.