Ivory diptych carved in two registers. Left panel:... Lot 5

Ivory diptych carved in two registers. Left panel: the Crucifixion and the Dormition of the Virgin; right panel: the Pentecost and the Ascension. The scenes are animated with numerous characters and take place under a series of five arcatures. Meuse or Germany, last quarter of the 14th century Height: 10.4 cm - Open width: 12.2 cm - Gross weight : 210 g Rosewood frame with collector's labels on the reverse bearing a blazon Azure with a gander on a river Argent, surmounted by five golden bezants of the Esmangart family accompanied by the speaking monogram ESMG "ESManGart" (right flap broken and glued back, small restorations to the hinges) Provenance: Collection Charles-Gaston Esmangart de Bournonville, Count of Saint-Maurice (1831-1905), Paris. Aristocrat, dandy and collector, Charles-Gaston Esmangart de Bournonville, known as Gaston de Saint Maurice, was a social figure in Parisian circles during the Second Empire. A great squire at the Egyptian court in 1868, he was particularly interested in Islamic art. Many of his works are preserved in the Islamic Department of the Louvre, including the entrance porch of the room. Owner of a private mansion on rue de Penthièvre, he also surrounded himself with medieval objects, reflecting the taste of the time for the Middle Ages.