Master of the Rouen Échevinage (active 1460s-80s) - photo 1
Master of the Rouen Échevinage (active 1460s-80s) - photo 2
Master of the Rouen Échevinage (active 1460s-80s) - photo 3

Master of the Rouen Échevinage (active 1460s-80s)

Lot 53
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 27 720
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 993174
Lot 53 | Master of the Rouen Échevinage (active 1460s-80s)
Estimate value
£ 15 000 – 20 000
Master of the Rouen Échevinage (active 1460s-80s)

The Hours of Anne Dufay, use of Rouen, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Rouen, c.1470]

A lively Rouennais Book of Hours by the Master of the Rouen Échevinage, with early female ownership.



170 x 119mm. i + 128 + i leaves, complete, collation: 112(of 14, i a pastedown and ii the front flyleaf), 28, 36, 4-58, 66, 7-128, 137(of 8, iii a cancelled blank), 148, 157(of 8, viii a cancelled blank), 168, 172(of 4, iii the final flyleaf and iv a pastedown), sporadic modern foliation in pencil, 16 lines, ruled space: 91 x 65mm., rubrics in red, illuminated initials with sprays extending into the margins, line-fillers throughout, every page with a one-sided border, larger illuminated initials opening some hours, 8 large miniatures within full borders (some cockling, marginal dampstaining and smudging, a few losses of pigment to the miniatures). Late 17th-century English calf, gilt label on spine (spine and edges a little scuffed). Fitted box.



Provenance:

(1) The manuscript was made for the woman kneeling before the Virgin and Child on f.119. The calendar clearly points to Rouen, with Martial (3 July) and Romanus of Rouen (23 October) in gold, plus Sever (1 February), Austreberta (10 February), Hugh (9 April), the translation of Ouen (5 May), Taurin of Evreux (11 August) and Mellon (22 October). Prayers use masculine forms.



(2) Anne Dufay (d.1592), of Rouen: ownership inscription on the first flyleaf in French: 'Ces heures ont appartenu a Dame Anne Dufay femme de Messire Robert Des Champs septieme du nom, mere d'Anne des Champs seule heritiere de la terre du Bosclehar et de cette branche.' This is Anne Dufay, daughter of Jean du Fay (seigneur de la Lande and Conseiller of Rouen in 1551), who married Robert Des Champs, seigneur de Bosc-le-Hard in 1579.



(3) Lloyd Cabot Briggs (1909-1975), anthropologist of Boston, Mass.: his cheque for $500 made out to Maggs Bros and dated 25 February 1927 (he would have been 17), pasted in at the back, and likely his armorial book label (a coronet with intertwined Ls, Cs and a B?) on inner cover. A typed description pasted into the front flyleaf is likely from Maggs.



(4) Purchased from Sam Fogg in the 1990s.



Content:

Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel extracts ff.13-18v; Obsecro te and O intemerata ff.19-26; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rouen, ff.27-66v: matins f.27, lauds f.37, prime f.49, terce f.54, sext f.56v (rubricated 'Ad iii'), none f.59, vespers f.61v, compline f.63; Hours of the Cross ff.67-69v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.70-72v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.73-88v; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen, ff.89-118; Douce Dame and Seven Requests, in French, ff.119-128v.



Illumination:

The illumination shows all the characteristics of the inventive style of the Master of the Geneva Latini, also known as the Master of the Rouen Échevinage from his work in manuscripts made for the public library assembled by the aldermen (échevins) of Rouen. His career in the Norman capital began c.1460 and continued into the 1480s. The compositions and decorative vocabulary of the present manuscript find echoes in other Books of Hours that emerged from his productive workshop, but here they are of a higher quality than the more routine works associated with this illuminator's output. The miniatures are highly detailed and rich in incident: textiles are patterned and gilt, and the architecture is elaborately articulated. Two miniatures in particular stand out: on f.73 King David kneels before his throne in a richly appointed loggia, his crown and harp on the ground, a set table in front of him; above a sword-wielding angel swoops down against a hilly landscape with a turreted castle, a lake with a boat and a swan, and God in a mandorla in the centre. On f.89 four monks and friars on a bench read their Breviaries with a naked corpse lying on a shroud in the foreground; St Michael and a devil fighting for his soul in the sky above. Identical compositions can be found in a delightful Book of Hours by the Master once in the Dyson Perrins collection, sold at Christie's on 13 July 2000, lot 47. For the Master, see F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France, 1993, pp.168-73.



The subjects of the miniatures are as follows: a quadripartite scene with the Four Evangelists f.13; the Annunciation f.27, the Nativity f.49; the Crucifixion f.67; Pentecost f.70; David in Prayer f.73; Burial service and battle for the Soul f.89; Coronation of the Virgin with kneeling patron f.119.





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