Plaque of Alexander the Great

Artist Workshop of Colin Nouailher (French, active 1539 - 1571)

Dateca. 1540

MediumCopper with enamel gilding

DimensionsUnframed: 10 3/4 × 10 3/4 inches (27.31 × 27.31 cm)
Framed: 13 × 13 inches (33.02 × 33.02 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number45-32/1

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts

Terms

DescriptionSquare, with round convex center, containing scene of man on horseback - black, gold, grey, rose, and green. Encircled by inscription "Alexander Ma Cedo" - Triangles in four corners containing winged figures.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

The ancient and medieval technique of enameling, whereby a vitreous substance colored with minerals is fused to a metal surface, was revived around 1520 in the French city of Limoges. Some Limoges enamellers, including Léonard Limousin and Colin Nouailher, employed bright colors and metallic foils to create dramatic scenes filled with intricate details of daily life.

Provenance

Leon Schinasi (1880-1930), New York, by 1930;

By inheritance to his wife, Ruby (née Smith, 1894-1981) Schinasi, New York, 1930-November 4, 1944;

Purchased at her sale, Italian Primitive and Renaissance Paintings…Collected by the Late Leon Schinasi, now the Property of Mrs Leon Schinasi, Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, November 4, 1944, lot 298, by Brummer Gallery, New York, stock no. N6153, 1944-October 8, 1945 [1];

Purchased from Brummer Gallery, through Harold Woodbury Parsons, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1945.

NOTES:

[1] The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Cloisters Library and Archives, Brummer Gallery Records, Gothic and Renaissance bronzes, dinanderie, iron, ivory, and silver, Object inventory card number N6153.

Published References

Italian Primitive and Renaissance Paintings…Collected by the Late Leon Schinasi, now the Property of Mrs Leon Schinasi (New York: Parke Bernet Galleries, 1944).

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