RARE BYZANTINE CROSS IN GOLD, ENAMEL, STONES AND PEARLS - Lot 32

Lot n° 32
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Estimation :
10000 - 15000 EUR
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Result : 16 500EUR
RARE BYZANTINE CROSS IN GOLD, ENAMEL, STONES AND PEARLS - Lot 32
RARE BYZANTINE CROSS IN GOLD, ENAMEL, STONES AND PEARLS - CIRCA 1100. Enkolpion" pectoral cross in pure gold (24 carats), set with colored stones, featuring the figure of Christ crucified in full cloisonné polychrome enamel decoration, within a projecting border bordered by a frieze of seed pearls, fitted with a hinged decorated with filigree, as is the lower edge of the cross. lower edge of the cross. Good condition, the cross has been cleaned, some enamel some missing enamel, one stone missing. Byzantine art, Constantinople, circa 1100. H. 11.5 x L. 8 cm. Gross weight: 80.70 g. Historical background: One of the treasures of Byzantine art is the enamel decorations enamel decoration on precious metals on objects of the highest of the highest quality. This cross is exactly the kind of kind of portable object that made its way to the West in the 11th and 12th centuries, a process that found its ultimate expression ultimate expression in the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade instigated by the Venetians in 1204. This enamel is of a type generally referred to as "typical" Byzantine enamel. "typical". In other words, it is set in gold, where the contours contours of the Christ figure are prominent. On the inside, gold wires were used to form the compartments to be filled to be filled by the enamel. This type of enamel, a combination of cloisonné and champlevé, produces an image sometimes referred to by the German term "Senkschmelz". Researchers believe that the first example of this technique occurred on the reliquary of the True Cross in the treasury of Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn, produced between 963 and 989. The technique remained popular in the Byzantine world until the 12th century, the destruction of Constantinople having led to the collapse 13th century. A triptych depicting the Deisis in gold, silver and cloisonné enamel, with comparable figures, Constantinople, 11th-12th centuries, is in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (inv. W-1192). A very similar reliquary cross dated circa 1200, held in the Dumbarton Oaks collection in Washington (inv. BZ.1936.20), is reproduced in Klaus Wessel's book, "Byzantine enamels", 1969, cat. 60 pp. 186-187 (ill. 1). Provenance : Kohn sale, Drouot, November 29, 2007, lot 4. Literature : - Klaus Wessel, Byzantine Enamels, Greenwich, CT, New York Graphic Society Ltd. 1967. - Marian Campbell, An Introduction to Medieval Enamels, Owings Mills, Maryland, Stemmer House Publishers, Inc. 1983. - Buckton David (ed.), Byzantium: treasures of Byzantine art and culture culture from British collections. London, British Museum Press, 1994. - Cormack Robin Vassilaki Maria (ed.), Byzantium, 330-1453. London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2008. - E. Gagarina, Byzantine Antiquities, Works of Art from the Fourth to Fifteenth Centuries in the Collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, Moscow, 2013.
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