Two gilded and chased copper plaques with champlevé... Lot 2

Two gilded and chased copper plaques with champlevé enamel. Limoges. France. Romanesque. Circa 1220 - 1230. Each plaque is richly and magnificently ornamented with enamels in dark blue, sky blue, lapis lazuli blue, turquoise, green, white red and yellow tones. In the upper part are two medallions, each with an angel resting on a cloud inside. There is decoration of scrolls, foliage and flowers surrounding the medallions. The quality of the chasing and the great chromatic variety on the enamel are outstanding. Magnificent state of preservation. 21 x 10 cm. each. The Tabernacle of Cherves preserved at the Metropolitan Museum de Nueva York, as gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (Nº. 32.100.281) presents at the interior side panels a large lozenge with engraved figurative scenes framed at the corners by triangular enamel plaques, each depicting an angel in a roundel, just as the plaques we are presenting at auction. See: “Enamels of Limoges, 1100–1350”. Catalogue of the exhibition at the MET, 1996, page 300. Provenance: - George Hoentschel, J. Pierpont Morgan, Metropolitan Museu of Art, New York. - Bought in Sotheby´s London on 6/7/1989, lot nº 17. Published in: Collections Georges Hoentschel (1855-1915). Emaux du XII eme au XV eme siecles. Introduction et Notices. (Volume 1). Perate, Andre and Georges Hoentschel. Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1911.