Attributed to Colin Nouailher, French, Limoges, circa 1530-1550, Tazza with an angel feeding a prophet, probably Isaiah, the banderole inscribed: DEVORA VERBVM DNI MANET IN ETERNUM (Swallow the word of god endures forever); with a fragmentary label numbered: 318. on the underside; partially gilt painted enamel on copper; 6.7 by 20.2cm., 2 5/8  by 8in. Estimation 12,000 — 18,000 GBP - Lot. Vendu 23,750 GBP. Photo Sotheby's

Note: Verbum Domini manet in aeternum or "The word of God endures forever" was the defiant motto of the Lutheran Reformation taken from the Prophet Isaiah (Isa 40:8) and Saint Peter (Peter 1:25). It is not normally preceded by the verb devora, meaning devour, swallow or enjoy, which may have been added to mock the reformers. Limoges enamelers are generally regarded as staunch Catholics.

Prophets in similar elaborate clothes feature often in earlier Limoges enamels, including in the Orléans and Baltimore triptychs (see Verdier, op.cit., no. 17) and a set of twenty-one plaques with standing apostles, sibyls, and prophets by Leonard Limousin in the Walters Art Gallery (inv. no. 44.366). The colour scheme, moody expressions of the angel and the prophet, and the opulent gilt details point towards the workshop of Colin Nouailher. On the pair of salts representing the Ages of Love in the Wallace collection, monogrammed N and attributed to Nouailher by Higgott, the gilt foliage is executed in a remarkably similar way and the pilasters on the corners of the salts are identical to those on the underside of the bowl of the present tazza.

RELATED LITERATURE
P. Verdier, Catalogue of the painted enamels of the Renaissance, cat. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1967, pp. 26-29 and 160-169, nos. 17 and 83-103; S. Higgott, Catalogue of glass and Limoges painted enamels, cat. The Wallace Collection, London, 2011, pp. 210-219, nos. 64a and b; O. Bayer, "A public mystery, Lutheran Quarterly XXVI, 2012, pp. 126-127

Sotheby's. Old Master Sculpture and Works of Art, 9 juillet 2015 - Londres