Series of nine plaques with scenes from the life of Christ, French, Limoges, mid 16th century. Photo Sotheby's

two of the plaques with old paper labels to the reverse printed: THOS. F. FLANNERY COLL. CHICAGO and each with numbered labels; painted enamel on copper, within later bronze frames- plaques: 14 by 11.5cm., 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 in. each.; 16 by 13cm., 6 1/4 by 5 1/8 in. overall. Estimate 20,000 — 25,000 GBP

Provenance: Edson Bradley (1852-1935), Frankfort, United States;
Thomas F. Flannery Jr. (1926-1980), Chicago, United States;
his sale Sotheby's London, The Thomas F. Flannery, Jr. Collection, 1 December 1983, lot 211;
the present owner

Provenance: Edson Bradley (1852-1935), Frankfort, United States;
Thomas F. Flannery Jr. (1926-1980), Chicago, United States;
his sale Sotheby's London, The Thomas F. Flannery, Jr. Collection, 1 December 1983, lot 211;
the present owner

Note: These polychrome enamel plaques, formerly in the Thomas F. Flannery Jr collection, would have formed part of a larger set  They are painted after woodcuts from Albrecht Dürer's 1511 Small Passion series, and his 1512 set of prints of the same subject. The fluid style of the present enamels is reminiscent of the master Léonard Limosin's work, see his Le Mois de février in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. no. MR 2548). The quality is particularly close to enamels by Limosin's follower the Master N.B., see the example from the Lopata collection (St. Louis., op. cit., p. 9).

RELATED LITERATURE Bulletin of the City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, 1970, p. 9; S. Baratte, Les émaux peints de Limoges, cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2000, pp. 116-119

Sotheby's. Old Master Sculpture and Works of Art, London | 10 Jul 2014 - http://www.sothebys.com/