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Workshop of the Bedford Master

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£ 2 520
Auction dateClassic
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 870863
Lot 13 | Workshop of the Bedford Master
Workshop of the Bedford Master

The Crucifixion and Pentecost, two historiated initials on two leaves from an illuminated Book of Hours on vellum [Paris, c.1420]

Two sparkling illuminated leaves with historiated initials from an imposing Hours produced in the workshop of one of the great illuminators of the 15th century, the Bedford Master.



179 x 130mm. The historiated initials with the Crucifixion and Pentecost opening the Hours of the Cross and the Hours of the Holy Spirit respectively, 14 lines, ruled space: 93 x 70mm, the historiated initials within a three-sided bar-border and full border of spiky acanthus, rubrics in French in red, 8 small illuminated initials in gold on red and blue grounds, 7 larger initials alternately in red or blue on burnished gold grounds and extending into the margins, the leaf with the Crucifixion foliated '62' in modern pencil, and the leaf with Pentecost '64' on the reverse (slight cropping to margins, else in excellent condition).



Provenance:

(1) The parent manuscript included Taurinus, bishop of Evreux and Ouen of Rouen in the Calendar and was for the use of Rouen; the present leaves were ff. 62 and 64.

(2) Justin G. Turner: his pictorial bookplate depicting the Declaration of Independence and busts of U.S. Presidents.

(3) Sotheby's, 6 December 2016, lot 31, offered as 'Property of an American Family Trust', subsequently dispersed.



Illumination:

The historiated initials can be stylistically linked to the workshop of the Bedford Master, one of the most influential French illuminators of the earlier 15th century, who illuminated four books owned or commissioned by John, Duke of Bedford (1389-1435), brother of Henry V of England and Regent in France for the infant Henry VI. He was named from the Bedford Hours, begun c.1405, with main miniatures mostly c.1415, and completed for Bedford after his marriage to Anne of Burgundy in 1423 (London, BL Add. MS 18850), and the Salisbury Breviary, commissioned by him c.1424, worked on until the 1460s and never completed (Paris, BnF, ms lat. 17294, presented in 1625 to Camille de Neufville-Villeroy [1606-1698], the future Archbishop of Lyons). The Benedictional (so-called Pontifical), commissioned by Bedford and completed after his death, aroused great aesthetic and antiquarian admiration before its destruction in 1871; a small Book of Hours commissioned by, and completed for, Bedford has lost most of its decoration (BL. Add. MS 74754). On the Bedford Master and his workshop, see C. Reynolds, ‘The Workshop of the Master of the Duke of Bedford: Definitions and Identities’, G. Coenen and P. Ainsworth, Patrons Authors and Workshops, Books and Book Production in Paris around 1400, 2006, pp.437-72.





Special notice


This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
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10.12.2022 – 13.12.2022
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