Advanced Search 
Plaque with Busts of Four Angels
Maker: Unidentified artist
German (Cologne)
Medieval
about 1220–30
Medium/Technique
Champlevé enamel and gilding on copper
Dimensions
2.9 x 13.3 cm (1 1/8 x 5 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Harriet Otis Cruft Fund
Accession Number41.218
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsEnamels
DescriptionRectangular plaque with four pinholes. Hammered, champlevé, enameled, and gilded. Enamel colors are lapis blue, red, white, and green in single and mixed fields of three colors. Four red arches contain busts of angels in reserve against a lapis-blue ground. The angels are arranged in facing pairs. Between the arches and under smaller scalloped arches in reserve are fields of white, blue, and green enamel. Rough crosshatching in blue enamel fills the space between the arches and the upper border. On the reverse are two sets of zigzag bands (chisel trials or assembly marks) at each end and an accession number, "966," in white over india ink.
ProvenanceBy 1925, Arnold, Seligmann Rey and Co., New York; April 27, 1926, half-share sold to Brummer Gallery, New York (stock no. H24); May 11, 1940, half-share sold by Brummer back to Arnold Seligmann Rey and Co.; 1941, sold by Arnold Seligmann Rey to the MFA for $400. (Accession Date: April 10, 1941)