Ten full-page miniatures [England (London?), mid-19th century]

187×130mm, vellum, ii+2+10+2+iii leaves, 10 full-page miniatures on rectos by Caleb Wing in the style of Jean Colombe, versos blank, interleaved with sheets of pink paper and each miniature numbered three times in the lower right corner (as in other Jarman manuscripts), in excellent condition, bound in purple velvet over wood boards, with an enamelled clasp set with purple-red stones, somewhat worn, split at spine, clasp coming loose

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

provenance

(1) Copied by Caleb William Wing (1801-75) from a manuscript owned by John Boykett Jarman (c.1782-1864). Janet Backhouse first outlined the career of Jarman, a collector and dealer in objets d’art, and Wing, a skilled illuminator and facsimilist (‘A Victorian Connoisseur and his Manuscripts: the Tale of Mr Jarman and Mr Wing’, British Museum Quarterly, 32, 1968, pp.76-92). Jarman apparently first employed Wing to retouch minor areas of some of his manuscripts after they were water-damaged in an exceptional storm in 1846; Jarman was so pleased with Wing’s work that he next asked him to restore or repaint whole miniatures, and subsequently to make completely new copies. Wing has now attracted considerable art-historical interest (e.g. S. Hindman et al., Manuscript Illumination in the Modern Age, 2001, pp.125-29). The Jarman manuscript from which the present miniatures are copied is now Oxford, Keble College, MS 42 (on which see the catalogue by M.B. Parkes, 1979, pp.189-94, with reproductions of the exemplars for the present manuscript’s ff.1r, 2r, 8r, and 9r). The present manuscript was sold in the Jarman sale in our rooms, 13 June 1864, lot 80, attributed to a 16th-century French artist.

(2) Charles William Dyson Perrins (1864-1958), bibliophile, businessman, philanthropist, and owner of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce; his bookplate; his sale 11 April 1961, lot 127 (catalogue clipping loosely inserted); bought by Traylen.

(3) Prof. James Learmonth Gowans, Oxford, by May 1974, when the manuscript was shown to Janet Backhouse (letters and papers enclosed). 

illumination

Miniatures by Wing were highly sought-after even during his lifetime: ‘That Wing was regarded as “collectible” is suggested by the large number of his illuminations owned by Jarman [who could afford to buy medieval originals], and by the purchase of his facsimiles to round out the collection at the Victorian and Albert Museum’ (Hindman et al., p.125). His obituary stated that ‘Illuminative art has lost one of its most skilful and experienced exponents in the late Mr. C.W. Wing, known during the last thirty years at the British Museum as the best facsimile copyist of ancient illuminations.’ (The Academy, 8 May 1875, p.489). Today, examples of his work can be found in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Huntington, Lilly, Beinecke, Cambridge University, and British Libraries, among others.

The subjects of the miniatures are: (1) f.1r, Annunciation to the Virgin; (2) f.2r, Visitation; (3) f.3r, Annunciation to the Shepherds; (4) f.4r, Nativity; (5) f.5r, Adoration of the Magi; (6) f.6r, Presentation in the Temple; (7) f.7r, Flight into Egypt; (8) f.8r, Crucifixion; (9) f.9r, Pentecost; (10) f.10r, Coronation of the Virgin.