French Renaissance Limoges Enamels Reliquaries Jewelry Altars Triptych Caskets

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

French Renaissance Limoges Enamels Reliquaries Jewelry Altars Triptych Caskets:
$49.99

browser does not support JavaScript.To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser.

Click here to see 1,000 archaeology/ancient history books and 2,000 ancient artifacts, antique gemstones, antique jewelry!

Limoges Enamels at the Frick Collection by Ian Wardropper.

NOTE: We have 75,000 books in our library, almost 10,000 different titles. Odds are we have other copies of this same title in varying conditions, some less expensive, some better condition. We might also have different editions as well (some paperback, some hardcover, oftentimes international editions). If you don’t see what you want, please contact us and ask. We’re happy to send you a summary of the differing conditions and prices we may have for the same title.

DESCRIPTION: Hardcover with dustjacket. Publisher: Giles (2015). Pages: 80. Size: 7¼ x 7¼ inches. Limoges enamels, named for the town in which they were produced, are one of the most distinctive art forms of the French Renaissance. This stunning handbook—the first book dedicated to Henry Clay Frick’s important collection of forty-six Limoges enamels—reflects the jewel-like character of the objects it describes.

These colorful, luminous, often personal treasures—plaques, caskets, dishes, ewers—have long been of interest to connoisseurs. Henry Clay Frick purchased John Pierpont Morgan’s collection in totality in 1916, adding his name to a centuries-long list of illustrious collectors of the medium.

A fascinating and wide-ranging introduction by Ian Wardropper sets the scene. Entries for each object, illustrated with new photography, and a glossary of terms reveal the intricacies of the collection, which itself constitutes a comprehensive survey of painted enamels at an outstanding level of quality.

CONDITION: NEW. New hardcover w/dustjacket. Giles (2015) 80 pages. Unblemished and pristine in every respect. Pages are clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 14 days! #8356a.

PLEASE SEE DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES BELOW FOR DETAILED REVIEWS AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK.

PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.

PUBLISHER REVIEWS:

REVIEW: The first book dedicated to The Frick\'s important collection of fifteenth, sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Limoges enamels, this jewel-like volume features major examples of works by some of the leading masters of the art, including the Pénicaud brothers, Léonard Limousin, and the Master of the Large Foreheads. Forty-three highlights from the collection are accompanied by a brief commentary and stunning new photography. There is an illustrated essay by the director of The Frick, Ian Wardropper, on the artistic significance, stylistic qualities, and craftsmanship of the collection, and a glossary of terms by The Frick\'s associate conservator Julia Day.

The first catalog of the Frick\'s important collection of fifteenth-, sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Limoges enamels, this jewel-like book features major examples of works by some of the leading masters of the art, including the Penicaud brothers, Leonard Limousin, and the Master of the Large Foreheads. Forty-three highlights from the collection are accompanied by a brief commentary and stunning new photography. There is an illustrated essay by director of the Frick, Ian Wardropper, on the artistic significance, stylistic qualities, and craftsmanship of the collection, and a glossary of terms by the Frick\'s associate conservator Julia Day.

REVIEW: This is the first catalogue of The Frick\'s important collection of Limoges enamels. It shows the broad range of applications to which this brilliant but delicate medium was applied in 15th-, 16th- and early 17th-century France--from secular objects, such as portraits, caskets, and tableware, to objects of religious association, such as devotional triptychs. It features major examples of works by some of the leading masters of the art, including Jean I and Nardon Penicaud, Leonard Limousin, and the Master of the Large Foreheads. In addition to full-page images of 43 key pieces from this collection - each accompanied by a brief commentary and illustrated with luminous new photography - the volume includes an illustrated essay by Ian Wardropper on the wider artistic significance, stylistic qualities and consummate craftsmanship of the collection, its history and re-display at the Frick, together with an illustrated glossary of terms by The Frick\'s associate conservator Julia Day.

REVIEW: Limoges enamels, named after the town in which they were produced, are one of the most distinctive art forms of the French Renaissance. This stunning volume—the first book dedicated to Henry Clay Frick’s important collection of Limoges enamels—reflects the jewel-like character of these exquisite objects. It shows the broad range of applications to which this brilliant but delicate medium was applied in 15th-, 16th- and early 17th-century France: from secular objects, such as portraits, caskets and tableware, to objects of religious association, such as devotional triptychs.

There are major examples of works by some of the leading masters of the art, including Jean I and Nardon Pénicaud, Léonard Limousin, Pierre Reymond and the Master of the Large Foreheads. In addition to full-page images of 43 key pieces from this collection—each accompanied by a brief commentary and illustrated with exceptional new photography—the volume includes an illustrated essay by Ian Wardropper on the wider artistic significance, stylistic qualities and consummate craftsmanship of the collection, its history and re-display at the Frick, together with an illustrated glossary of terms by the Frick’s associate conservator Julia Day.

REVIEW: Limoges enamels, one of the most distinctive art forms of the French Renaissance, have long been of interest to connoisseurs. This stunning handbook of Henry Clay Frick\'s important collection reflects the jewel-like character of the objects it describes. Entries for each object, illustrated with new photography, and a glossary of terms reveal the intricacies of the collection, which itself constitutes a comprehensive survey of painted enamels at an outstanding level of quality.

REVIEW: Ian Wardropper has been director of The Frick Collection since 2011. Previously, he was Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Chairman of the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Eloise W. Martin Curator and Department Head, European Decorative Arts and Sculpture and Ancient Art, at the Art Institute of Chicago. He has written numerous books and articles and co-organized more than twenty exhibitions in his specialties of European sculpture, earlier decorative arts, and twentieth-century design and decorative arts, among them “Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution” (2009), and “Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure for the Palaces of Europe” (2008). In 2012, he received the prestigious Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France.

He has lectured widely and made a number of radio and TV appearances. Most recently, he gave a tour of the Frick to Mario Batali, for the chef’s series “The High Road”; appeared on Channel 13 to feature a sculpture by Jean-Antoine Houdon; and discussed the exhibition Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Hals at The Frick Collection on NY1.

Julia Day is associate conservator at The Frick Collection. In 2011, she completed the treatment of Houdon\'s life-sized painted terracotta sculpture “Diana the Huntress” in preparation for its installation in the new Portico Gallery. In 2012, she presented her work on The Frick Collection at two symposia: the French Bronze Symposium in Paris, and the ICOM-CC Enamel Group meeting in Barcelona, where she spoke about her treatment of Limoges painted enamels and the renovation of the Enamel Room\'s historic display cases.

REVIEW: In 1916, Henry Clay Frick converted his private office at his home on Fifth Avenue into a gallery for the collection of Limoges enamels that he had purchased from the estate of J. Pierpont Morgan for the then-staggering sum of $1,157,500. What was so compelling about these delicate, jewel-like objects that Frick paid such a high price and was willing to sacrifice his sanctuary for their display? The Frick, in association with D. Giles Ltd., London, has recently published my book focusing on this remarkable collection, which constitutes a comprehensive survey of the genre and represents most of the medium’s notable workshops. In conjunction with this publication, a new installation in the Enamels Room presents some of the museum’s finest Limoges works together with notable examples of glazed earthenware and bronze sculpture from the same period.

The painted enamels of Limoges — named for the French town in which they were produced — are one of the distinctive art forms of the French Renaissance. They were coveted for centuries by European collectors, including Paul Durand-Ruel and Sir Richard Wallace. Henry Walters in Baltimore and J. P. Morgan were among the first to collect Limoges enamels in America. When Frick acquired his enamels, fellow American collectors included William Randolph Hearst (whose works are now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Philip and Robert Lehman (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft (now in the Taft Museum, Cincinnati). Along with collections in London, Paris, and a few other centers, the Frick stands today as one of the major museums housing important Limoges enamels.

Enamels are created by fusing powdered glass to a copper sheet. Metal oxides are added to the clear, molten glass to produce a variety of colors, which are affected by both the composition of the glass and the concentration of the metal oxide used, as well as the atmospheric conditions in the kiln. Enamels are fired multiple times, requiring enormous skill to control the different temperatures necessary for the various colors and layers. During the Middle Ages, the production at Limoges centered on liturgical vessels such as pyxes and reliquaries, fostered by the city’s proximity to monasteries, which patronized the art form, and its location on pilgrimage routes to sites of devotion in Spain and Italy. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Christian scenes were often incorporated into portable altars. The durable nature of enamel was especially suited for altars with wings, which could be protectively closed to make the objects compact and easily transportable.

In addition, their small size made it easier for the viewer to take in multiple scenes or a continuous narrative. A double-tiered triptych, for example, follows Christ’s life and resurrection through six separate scenes. Beginning with the upper-left plaque, Christ is depicted bearing the cross and returning to Veronica the veil she had offered him earlier, which now features an impression of his face. Other scenes depict (clockwise from top center) the Crucifixion, the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection, the Entombment, and the Descent from the Cross. The triptych is signed by Nardon Pénicaud, the patriarch of one of the most prominent families of enamelers in Limoges. Despite the signature, however, the triptych was probably produced by a younger member of Pénicaud’s workshop, possibly after the master’s death, in 1541. Its brilliance was achieved through one of the most refined techniques of enameling, in which silver foil was placed beneath the translucent enamel to produce a lustrous sheen. Smaller pieces of foil, called paillons, highlight specific areas, such as the mulberry and green panels of Christ’s tomb.

Techniques developed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries permitted a wider range of opaque and translucent colors. Enamelers increasingly exploited the overlay of one color on another in thin layers or, with subtle shading, manipulated them to reveal what lay beneath. For instance, to achieve a more naturalistic flesh tone, early enamelers sometimes applied mulberry beneath the white to create warm undertones. To enhance details in the composition or delineate features in the face, a technique known as enlevage was employed, in which white powdered glass was manipulated with a fine tool to expose the darker fired layer beneath. Grisaille was also used to produce subtle modeling in shades of gray. Final touches of oxide color or gilding, brushed on and lightly fired, added expression and richness.

Over time, workshops began to produce objects other than those intended for religious devotion. They made jewelry, belt buckles, and other pieces for personal adornment that were prized throughout Europe, in addition to portraits and domestic items such as caskets, basins and ewers, and tableware. These items were often decorated with subjects from mythology or, occasionally, chivalric or courtly subjects. The small casket is decorated with twelve plaques that depict naked putti playing musical instruments, fighting mock battles, and engaging in various romantic pursuits; each scene is accompanied by phrases in old French on love’s joys and cruelties. The plaque at lower left depicts a putto presenting his beloved with a casket while a third figure holding an arrow looks on, along with the words le prins de bone foy (take it in good faith). Some two dozen similar caskets in various collections testify to the popularity of these decorative boxes, which may have served as love tokens or nuptial gifts. On the casket’s lid, the thirteenth plaque incorporates a roundel of Lucretia, the ancient heroine who chose suicide over dishonor.

Saltcellars were also popular, although they likely were not intended to hold salt but instead were displayed on tables and sideboards during banquets. These two are marked with the initials sc for Suzanne de Court, who came from a long line of enamel artisans and is the only known female enameler working in Limoges during the sixteenth century. The saltcellars are decorated after woodcuts first published in Lyon in 1557, illustrating Ovid’s Metamorphoses, although the artist’s sense of whimsy animates every scene. Here, de Court requires the viewer to fully rotate the saltcellars to complete the story of Orpheus. On one, the frenzied women of Cicones attack him in retaliation for his decision to avoid mortal women after the loss of his beloved wife, Eurydice. Despite their wrath, Orpheus calmly plays his lyre, the magic of his music stopping their spears, which de Court shows lying harmlessly at his feet. The story continues on the second saltcellar, with Orpheus slain and his severed head thrown into the River Hebrus. In the final scene, Apollo turns to stone the dragon that sought to devour Orpheus’s head. De Court’s favorite colors of emerald green, mauve, and turquoise glow over silver paillons; gilded patterns are scattered over a black background; and white flesh tones are highlighted with pink.

Likenesses of oneself, family members, and famous men and women were keenly desired during this period. While many Limoges portraits were miniature (the size of playing cards), others were larger, approaching or equaling the size of the small painted portraits on panel that were prevalent during this era. Among Limoges enamelers, Léonard Limousin produced the most portraits — some 130 are known — and is the most celebrated portraitist in the medium. As early as 1536, he made a portrait of the queen of France, Eleanor of Austria. The Frick holds five portraits attributed to Limousin, in addition to a rare group portrait, The Triumph of the Eucharist and the Catholic Faith, which includes precise miniatures of members of the Guise family, a powerful Catholic presence in France during the mid-sixteenth century.

The Triumph of the Eucharist plaque depicts the righteousness of the doctrine of transubstantiation — the belief in the transformation of the bread and wine of the Eucharist into the actual body and blood of Christ — a central issue of the Counter-Reformation and French Wars of Religion. The patriarch of the Guise family, Claude de Lorraine, stands at the center of the scene, with his hand on the hilt of his sword, while his wife, Antoinette de Bourbon, rides in a chariot pulled by doves, holding a chalice with the host. Their son, François de Lorraine, turns the wheel of his mother’s chariot to crush the Protestant heretics beneath (labeled as such by now-faded gold lettering). The identities of the remaining two figures, both prelates, remain under debate. The figure in red could be Jean de Guise, brother of Claude and the first cardinal of Lorraine, while the figure at far right is likely Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, an influential church leader and orator. The finely detailed portraits in the foreground come into sharp focus against the impressionistic landscape beyond, attesting to Limousin’s skill and artistry. As both a group portrait and allegory of faith at a moment of religious conflict, his composition is unusual among Limoges enamels.

While the glorious enamel tradition of the Renaissance began to wane during the seventeenth century, it was revived in the nineteenth century, especially in Paris, with a highly proficient technical style, at a moment when many of the early enamels were restored and when the collecting of these works began in earnest. It was during this period that the foundation was laid for Henry Clay Frick’s purchases, which continue to delight visitors to this day.

PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS:

REVIEW: An accessible introduction to enamel history. While the grandest glories of the French Renaissance were the elaborate castles circling Paris and adorning the Loire Valley, down in Central France a much smaller art form flourished. The enamels of Limoges involved a painstaking technique of fusing fine glass powder to a metal-based surface, a process that peaked in the 15th and 16th centuries. The industry later declined, then resurfaced in the 19th century, just in time for American collectors like Henry Clay Frick to take an obsessive interest in the following decades.

The Frick Collection recently released its first book on its enamels, Limoges Enamels at The Frick Collection, published in association with D Giles Limited. It’s intended for a lay enamel audience, and even if you’ve not so much as looked at a religious scene by the Master of the Large Foreheads, it’s an accessible introduction to enamel history.

The painted enamels of Limoges constitute one of the distinctive art forms of the French Renaissance, but their production remained largely regional. Much of what characterizes art of the period — such as the magnificent interiors of Fontainebleau, the architecture of Paris, and the royal chateaux — centers on the court in the Île-de-France and its outliers. Far from the circle of the king, enamelers in central France revived a local practice, refining and improving earlier methods.

Limoges artisans focused on liturgical vessels and religious items in the Middle Ages, as the city was a point on pilgrimage routes to Italy and Spain. By the 16th century, like many Renaissance artists, they were dabbling as much in classical mythology as Christianity, and sometimes commissioned portraits. A late 16th-century oval dish by Jean Reymond has the Last Supper on one side, and Jupiter astride an eagle on the other. The imagery was often inspired or copied from other art forms, like small Book of Hours or Florentine paintings transmitted to France via printmaking.

The enamel artists were almost entirely men, but there is an interesting exception with Suzanne de Court, possibly the daughter of enamel maker Jean de Court. The book doesn’t touch on much of her back story, although it presents a beautiful pair of saltcellars from the late 16th or early 17th century with scenes from the life of Orpheus, which were created in her preferred deep colors of blue, emerald green, and turquoise embedded with gilded patterns.

The jewel-like luminescence of enamels didn’t attract Henry Clay Frick until he’d delved into decorative arts to accompany his Old Masters paintings. The enamels at the Frick, are housed in the recently reinstalled Enamels Room, and they were initially brought together by John Pierpont Morgan. Frick purchased the lot after Morgan’s death in 1913, and he was apparently so enthused by them that he gave up the personal office in his Fifth Avenue mansion for their display, and that’s where they remain today, a small, but important, collection revealing this delicate art tradition. [Allison Meier, Hyperallergic].

REVIEW: The extraordinary collection of Limoges enamels, from the late 15th through the early 17th century, acquired by Frick in 1916 from the estate of J. P. Morgan. [Enamelist Society]

REVIEW: This stunning handbook--a catalog of Henry Clay Frick\'s important collection of forty-six Limoges enamels--reflects the jewel-like character of the objects it describes. Entries for each object, illustrated with photography, and a glossary of terms reveal the intricacies of the collection.

REVIEW: A sumptuously illustrated book featuring 46 examples from The Frick’s remarkable collection of French fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth century enamels.

REVIEW: This book is as jewel-like as its subject. [Barrymore Laurence Scherer, The Magazine Antiques].

READER REVIEWS:

REVIEW: Gorgeous, high quality, full-color prints. Excellent narrative.

REVIEW: Five stars – absolutely incredible!

I always ship books Media Mail in a padded mailer. This book is shipped FOR FREE via USPS INSURED media mail (“book rate”). All domestic shipments and most international shipments will include free USPS Delivery Confirmation (you might be able to update the status of your shipment on-line at the USPS Web Site) and free insurance coverage. A small percentage of international shipments may require an additional fee for tracking and/or delivery confirmation. If you are concerned about a little wear and tear to the book in transit, I would suggest a boxed shipment - it is an extra $1.00. Whether via padded mailer or box, we will give discounts for multiple purchases. International orders are welcome, but shipping costs are substantially higher.

Most international orders cost an additional $12.99 to $33.99 for an insuredshipment in a heavily padded mailer, and typically includes some form of rudimentary tracking and/or delivery confirmation (though for some countries, this is only available at additional cost). There is also a discount program which can cut postage costs by 50% to 75% if you’re buying about half-a-dozen books or more (5 kilos+). Rates and available services vary a bit from country to country. You can email or message me for a shipping cost quote, but I assure you they are as reasonable as USPS rates allow, and if it turns out the rate is too high for your pocketbook, we will cancel the sale at your request. ADDITIONAL PURCHASES do receive a VERY LARGE discount, typically about $5 per book (for each additional book after the first) so as to reward you for the economies of combined shipping/insurance costs. Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment. We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers.

All of our shipments are sent via insured mail so as to comply with PayPal requirements. We do NOT recommend uninsured shipments, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for the loss of an uninsured shipment. Unfortunately the contents of parcels are easily “lost” or misdelivered by postal employees – even in the USA. That’s why all of our domestic shipments (and most international) shipments include a USPS delivery confirmation tag; or are trackable or traceable, and all shipments (international and domestic) are insured. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex). Please ask for a rate quotation. We will accept whatever payment method you are most comfortable with. If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price (less our original shipping costs).

Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world - but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.

I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the \"business\" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our \"ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE.\"