Lot 97. A circular parcel-gilt grisaille enamel plate representing the month of July, attributed to Pierre Reymond, circa 1565-70. Estimate $6,000 - $9,000. Price Realized $27,500. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The reverse with a profile portrait of a lady, with winged putti masks, strapwork and elaborate gilt foliate scrolls; 8 in. (20.5 cm.) diameter

Property from the Seligman collection.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: S. Baratte, Les Emaux peints de Limoges, Paris, 2000, MR 2431, no. N 1299, p. 212. 
V. Notin et al, La Rencontre des Héros, Limoges, 2002, pp.158-169.

Notes: Limoges enamel calendar plates were popular during the third quarter of the 16th century and were produced in various workshops. From 1548-1571, Pierre Reymond’s workshop produced a huge amount of of tablewares and was the major supplier of calendar plates in Limoges. As with so many of Pierre Reymond's works, a number of the delicately painted scenes were taken from print sources. In this case, the plate's central scene depicting the month of July is after the engravings ‘les Travaux des Mois’ by Etienne Delaune, c.1561-1568. 

The present plate, attributed to one of the most famous and prolific of the Limoges enamellers bears a coat-of-arms and a devise DE FORTI DULCEDO (du hazard ou de l’action courageuse naît la douceur). There are a few other pieces from the same service from the workshop of Pierre Reymond dating around 1565 -1570 and bearing the same coat of arms (not yet identified) in various collections (Wernher, musée Brunswick, musée du Louvre and musée de l’Evêché). According to V. Notin, six other plates with the same coat-of-arms as our present plate was sold in the collection Marlborough in 1883 (loc. cit. pp. 43-4).

Christie's. SCULPTURE, 13 April 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza