The Dressing of a Knight - photo 1
The Dressing of a Knight - photo 2

The Dressing of a Knight

Lot 137
28.01.2025 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
To bid, go to the website
CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
ID 1360853
Lot 137 | The Dressing of a Knight
Estimate value
$ 5 000 – 8 000
The Dressing of a Knight, illuminated miniature on vellum [Paris, early 20th century].

A chivalric scene by one of the great forgers of the modern age.

260 × 197mm by sight; 454 × 390mm overall. The miniature depicting a knight being dressed for battle (some creasing, craquelure to the burnished gold, and a few small losses of pigment). Mounted and framed.

lllumination:
Playing on late-medieval themes of chivalry, this miniature is typical of the Spanish Forger, a painter and illuminator active in Paris from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. A vibrant palette of blues, pinks, reds, and greens mimic the appearance of late medieval illumination, yet the Forger’s use of green copper arsenite (synthesized 1814), ultramarine blue (synthesized 1828) and Scheele’s green (synthesized 1775) reveal it to be a 19th-century imitation. The composition – a knight being dressed for battle – was a favored design by the Forger: an almost identical scene from the collection of Dr Sylvia Legrain was sold in Zurich at Koller, 20 September 2023, lot 1931.

Unmasked in 1930 by Belle da Costa Greene, then director of the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Spanish Forger is known today as one of the "most skillful, successful, and prolific forgers of all time." He takes his misleading name, the Spanish Forger, from a false attribution of a painting once thought to be by a 15th-century Spanish artist. The name has stuck. Despite the growing evidence that the Forger supervised an atelier in Paris (remnants of old Parisian newspapers have been found inside the frames), no trace of his real identity has come to light. Hundreds of works are attributed to him, and in 1978 a retrospective exhibition of his art was organized at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York and revisited again with an exhibition in 2014 at the Binghamton University Art Museum. His work is of great interest to both private collectors and museums: in 2009 the Victoria and Albert Museum in London acquired five paintings by the Spanish Forger "for what they tell us about late 19th-century perceptions of the Middle Ages."

The Forger was active already in the 1890s and he was still painting in the 1920s. He borrowed freely from chromolithographic editions published in Paris for his compositions, especially the series of publications by Lacroix, which suggests that he was likely employed by the Parisian publishing house Firmin Didot. His work capitalized on the vogue for medieval miniatures and cuttings and for the general popularity of medieval art revitalized by the Neogothic and Arts and Crafts movements. While the Forger attempted to imitate medieval painting, the artist had his own style with unique faces, peculiarities of architecture, and use of perspective. In his study of the artist, William Voelkle indicates that the Forger altered and then restored his own work in order to make it appear more authentic while often painting on reused vellum from the 14th and 15th centuries (W. Voelkle and R.S. Wieck, The Spanish Forger, New York, 1978). These characteristics are all present in this miniature.
Place of origin:France
Auction house category:Medieval & renaissance manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
14.01.2025 – 28.01.2025
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.