Gilded and enamelled copper chase in champlevé.... Lot 18

Gilded and enamelled copper chase in champlevé. Traditionally, chasses have the shape of a small house with two sloping roofs and an openwork ridge above it. This roof lifts up giving access to the interior. It locks with a hasp in the shape of a monster's head. Seen from the front, our hunt has an interesting decoration by its unity and coherence. On a blue background, a simple theme is repeated five times, that of angels in circular and four-lobed medallions separated by foliage and gold scrolls. The sides are decorated in the same way, with foliate scrolls on the gables of the lid. The two angels of the bottom and the one of the center of the lid are on a pale blue background, the others on a medium blue background. The background of the hunt is of a more sustained blue. All the angels except the one in the center turn their heads toward the center of the chase, and some of them carry a book in their hands or are in a prayerful position. The partly dissimilar cloud bands from which the angels emerge represent the sky, the clouds being considered in the Middle Ages as the beginning, the ground of the celestial domain. On the back, the decoration differs and shows us two panels (of the roof and the body of the chase) framed on two and four sides by wavy waves. They contain four symmetrical gilded vertical scrolls separated by three groups of two superimposed tondi containing four-petal flowers. The enameler harmoniously balanced the colors of these panels using deep blue for the background, light blue for the tondi and red to dress the leaves of the scrolls. It would come from the convent of Saint Nicolas du Port. It is in an excellent state of conservation with some small normal losses that do not affect the readability of the work and it still bears its gilding with mercury of the period. Note the quality of engraving of the gilded parts. The crest which had three gables has lost two of them. Limoges, early 13th century. Height : 27 cm - Width : 25.5 cm - Depth : 9.2 cm. Bibliography : " Enamels of Limoges 1100-1350 " Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of New-York 1996- P181- 188-189 &195. - Emaux du Moyen Age Occidental, by Marie-Madeleine Gauthier. - L'Œuvre de Limoges - Emaux limousins du moyen-âge by Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye and Barbara Drake Boehm. This hunting was bought in the sale in the hotel Drouot, room 1, in March 1955, Master Rheims. Certificate of analysis on the composition of the metal and enamels delivered by the institute Res Artes consultable in the study, will be given to the purchaser.