Cross with double crossbeam, wooden core, engraved,... Lot 9

Cross with double crossbeam, wooden core, engraved, hallmarked and gilded copper, colored glass and stone cabochons, four elements in champlevé enamel, blue, yellow, green and white enamels; applique Christ in repoussé, engraved and gilded copper with long perizonium in champlevé enamel, blue and turquoise blue, glass eyes. Limoges, second quarter of 13th century H. 39.5 cm (a few accidents, missing parts and restorations during its useful life, Christ's right arm reconstituted) Crosses with double crossbars or recrossbars, which appeared in Byzantine times, were considered to be staurothecae, i.e. reliquaries of the True Cross. This tradition has endured in Limousin goldsmiths, as shown by this rare example that has lost its precious relic, which was set in the upper crosspiece above Christ's head. Few of these crosses have survived to the present day. Only a few have survived, including a cross in the Castle Museum, Norwich, Norfolk, England (inv. NWHCM: 1846.97, fig.), in a very average state of preservation, with no stones, relics or gilding, and another published by Thoby from the Eglise du Temple, Carentoir (Morbihan). Like the Bonneval Cross in the Musée de Cluny (inv. Cl. 22888), this one from a Limousin collection features a bulge on each branch, a shape inherited from Carolingian or Byzantine art and later adopted by Catalan goldsmiths. It is also in a satisfactory state of preservation, having retained its original socket with flattened knot, as well as its gilded copper plates with punched decoration on the reverse; several of its small champlevé decorative elements, although displaced, have also been preserved. Provenance : - Sale Paris, Neuilly, Aguttes, June 17, 2008, lot 156. - Private collection, Limoges. Works consulted: - Dr P. Thoby, Les Croix limousines de la fin du XIIe siècle au début du XIVe siècle, Paris, Editions A.et H, 1953, pp. 69-71. - Dr. P. Thoby, Le Crucifix des Origines au Concile de Trente, supplement, Nantes, 1963, p. 2 and 29, cat. 422, pl. CCX. - G. François, "Répertoire typologique des croix de l'œuvre de Limoges, 1195-1215" in Bulletin de la Société archéologique et historique du Limousin, Limoges, 1993, p 85-120. - Exposition Paris-New York 1995/1996, L'œuvre de Limoges, Émaux limousins du Moyen Age, Musée du Louvre - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, cat.105, p 315-317. - M. Campbell, "Au sujet de quelques émaux de Limoges inconnus trouvés en Angleterre" in Bulletin Société archéologique et historique du Limousin, 2016, p. 161.