Workshop of the Master of the Rouen Échevinage

Lot 49
10.12.2025 12:00UTC +00:00
Classic
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Lieu de l'événementRoyaume-Uni, London
Commissionsee on Website%
ID 1514408
Lot 49 | Workshop of the Master of the Rouen Échevinage
Valeur estimée
£ 12 000 – 18 000
Workshop of the Master of the Rouen Échevinage
Book of Hours, use of Rouen, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [France, Rouen, c.1470]
A characteristic Book of Hours from a major centre of manuscript illumination: female patronage of the leading workshop in Rouen.

182 x 120mm. iv paper + 105 + iv paper leaves, unfoliated, bound too tightly to collate but apparently mostly gatherings of eight, lacking three leaves with miniatures, 16 lines, ruled space: 98 x 64 mm, one and two-line initials and line endings in gold on grounds of pink and blue, the two-line initials accompanied by borders in the outer side margins and leading on rectos to small sprays of gold leaves in the inner margins, nine large initials on gold grounds accompanied by bars to left margin and borders to three sides, five large miniatures over large initials on gold grounds with bars to three sides and full borders (lacking three miniature leaves before ff.51, 66 and 72 and possibly a calendar, miniature and border worn f.1, some wear to miniature and border, f.15, and to some borders, offsets from damp pressing for binding, some leaves cockled). 19th-century binding in red morocco gilt tooled with fillets and small cornerpieces, spine in six compartments gilt, turn ins gilt (small scuffs and stains)

Provenance:
(1) The Offices of the Virgin and of the Dead are for the use of Rouen and Sts Romain and Ouen are invoked in the litany, indicating that the lady shown at prayer before the Virgin and Child, f.97v, lived in or near Rouen; her headdress is appropriate for a prosperous burgess of Rouen, rather than a noblewoman. The style of illumination supports an origin in Rouen itself.

Content:
Gospel extracts with prayers, ff.1-6v; Obsecro te, in masculine, ff.6v-10; O intemerata, in masculine, ff.10-13v; ruled blank, f.14; Office of the Virgin, use of Rouen, with memorials after Lauds, ff.15-51; ruled blank, f.51v; Penitential Psalms and Litany, lacking opening, ff.52-65v; Hours of the Cross, lacking opening, ff.66-67v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.68-70v; ruled blank, f.71; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen, lacking opening, ff.72-97; Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, Doulce dame, ff.97v-102v; Seven Requests, Doulx dieu, ff.102v-105v.

Illumination:
The Master of the Rouen Échevinage (also known as the Master of the Geneva Latini) dominated the flourishing Rouen market for illuminated books from c.1460 into the 1480s. Named from a manuscript illuminated for the town council of Rouen (BnF, ms Fr. 2685), the Master is known for his expressive figures and delight in surface pattern, exemplified by textiles patterned or modelled in gold. He apparently headed a large workshop to meet the demand for his work: standard texts, like this Book of Hours, could be written on spec and then personalised through the illumination, so although the depicted owner is female, the accompanying texts had already been written in the masculine.

The Master’s linear compositions were ideally suited to copying and replication by his associates, see the comparable scenes in lot 50. The miniature of the owner before the Virgin and Child here, f.97v, however, is much closer to that in the Hours of Anne Dufay, attributed to the Master himself, sold Christie’s, 12 July 2023, lot 53, f.119, where matins and prime are again the only hours of the Virgin to be marked by a miniature. The Master’s typically subdued palette based on muted pink and blue with a dull turquoise green is seen here at the Nativity, f.35, whereas elsewhere a more vivid red and blue enliven the miniatures.

The subjects of the miniatures are: the four Evangelists in a quartered miniature f.1, the Annunciation f.15, the Nativity f.35, Pentecost f.68, the female owner kneeling before the Virgin and Child with an angel playing the harp f.97v.
Adresse de l'enchère CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
Royaume-Uni
Aperçu
10.12.2025 – 10.12.2025
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