Important French Medieval Pewter Pilgrim Souvenir / Badge - St Sebastian 1400 AD

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Important French Medieval Pewter Pilgrim Souvenir / Badge - St Sebastian 1400 AD:
$6500.00

An extremely rare and significant medieval pewter pilgrim badge, depicting the death of St. Sebastian and dating to the 15th century AD.

This example is of a style and quality that is rarely encountered in medieval pilgrim badges, the complexity of design combined with the rarity of the scene make it an extremely important example, it may well be the finest known example of its type. With a complex openwork design, the Saint is shown tied to a tree, his right arm above the left and wearing only a loincloth. He is flanked on either side by Roman archers, shooting him full of arrows. An arch rises above the scene, surmounted by a Petrine Cross.

Though similar and more common badges are known to depict the death of St. Edmund (who suffered in similar fashion to St. Sebastian), certain clues in the iconography of this example mark it out as a far rarer depiction of the Roman Saint. We can see that Sebastian raises one hand above the other, whereas St. Edmund is invariably shown with his hands tied behind his back. Furthermore, Sebastian is shown with a halo rather than the crown favoured on depictions of Edmund. For a manuscript image of St. Sebastian, produced around the same period as this badge and depicting him in the same pose seen here, please follow this link.

This very badge would have been worn suspended around its medieval owner’s neck or attached to their clothing as a protective amulet and proof of pilgrimage. Pilgrims would sometimes travel hundreds, even thousands of miles to show their devotion. Often though, on their journey back home, they would cast their souvenirs into rivers for good luck, so it is with this example, as it was recovered from the banks of the Seine in Paris.

Height: 25/8 inches.

Condition: Excellent, unrestored. Mounted on a bespoke wooden stand, as shown.

Provenance:

Formerly in the collection of Mr. Arthur Forgeais (1822-1878).

Forgeais owned a shop on the Pont Neuf in Paris during the 1860’s. It was during this period that the Parisian authorities undertook a project of dredging the Seine, as a result a number of these badges were recovered from the silt. It was Mr. Forgeais who recognised their importance and saw to their publication in a series of volumes which he had printed at his own expense in 1862-5. In many senses he was the modern founder of the study of medieval pilgrim’s badges and ampullae. This piece was one of a number recovered from the Seine which Mr. Forgeais retained for his own items are unconditionally guaranteed to be Authentic as described. For added security we offer a full money-back guarantee if a recognized authority disputes the authenticity of any object sold. We send paper invoices incorporating a signed certificate of authenticity and photograph of the item.Shipping
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