Advanced Search 
Plaque with Beasts
German (Cologne)
Medieval
about 1185
Object Place: Europe, Cologne, Germany
Medium/Technique
Champlevé enamel and gilding on copper
Dimensions
3 x 8.7 cm (1 3/16 x 3 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Otis Norcross Fund
Accession Number47.1445
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsEnamels
DescriptionRectangular plaque with beaded edges; six pinholes. Hammered, tooled, champlevé, enameled, and gilded. Enamel colors are lapis blue, turquoise, and light blue in single and mixed fields of two colors. Three lapis-blue rectangles depict a fantastic beast in reserve, engraved and filled with lapis-blue enamel. Rectangles are framed by a reserved band and two turquoise and light-blue enamel bands. Two dog-like beasts crouch facing toward the center with noses to the ground and long tails tucked under their bodies. The central beast, resembling a ram, faces right. On the reverse the number "14" is written in india ink.
ProvenanceAbout 1185, the Shrine of Saints Mauritius and Innocentius, Saint Servatius, Siegburg, Germany (original commission); 1902, removed from the shrine by Paul Beumers, Düsseldorf [see note 1]. 1939, B. Geladakis, Paris; August 21, 1939, sold by Geladakis to the Brummer Gallery, New York (stock no. P16054); 1947, sold by Joseph Brummer to the MFA for $3650. (Accession Date: November 13, 1947)
NOTES:
[1] See Hanns Swarzenski and Nancy Netzer, "Medieval Objects in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Enamels and Glass" (Boston, 1980), p. 64, cat. no. 15. Beumers restored several of the shrines in the Treasury of Saint Servatius in 1901-1902 and probably removed it at that time.
NOTES:
[1] See Hanns Swarzenski and Nancy Netzer, "Medieval Objects in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Enamels and Glass" (Boston, 1980), p. 64, cat. no. 15. Beumers restored several of the shrines in the Treasury of Saint Servatius in 1901-1902 and probably removed it at that time.