Accession number
MS M.1213
Object title
St. Catherine
Created
England, late 14th century
Credit line
Anonymous gift, 2019.
Description
1 leaf : vellum, illuminated ; 200 x 135 mm
Provenance
The parent manuscript: Late 14th-century owner, probably a member of the Knyvett family; a 15th-century owner for whom texts were added; a 16th-century owner who added prayers in English; a 16th-century Oxford (?) owner, for whom it was rebound by Gerard Pilgrim (d. 1536), a Dutch binder who worked in Oxford, in an early 16th-century calf binding "stamped with double panels representing the Blessed Trinity and the Image of Piety, with crossed keys, between the initials G.P. (Weale [1894, nos.] 390, 391" (J.B. Oldham, Blind Panels of English Binders, Cambridge, 1958, "Rel.8" & "Rel.9" at pp. 28, 32, pls. XXXV and XXXVI); reported to have had flyleaf inscriptions "Thys is mistrys marys boke. G" and "Marset Alouf: A mon poer ie voil voo pleser," and "Aloufe" also appeared above impaled arms; Thomas Boykott, 1761 (dated bookplate; Franks, no. 3351); Mrs. Wight-Boycott of Rudge Hall, Pattingham, Wolverhampton; sold by her in London, Sotheby's, 3-5 June 1918, lot 259; bought by Quaritch for £170; London, Quaritch, A Catalogue of Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Together with Some Works on Palaeography, 1931, no. 56, 2 pls. (St. George, St. John the Baptist); London, Quaritch, Catalogue 478, 1933, no. 3 (£300); said to have been bought from Quaritch by H.P. Kraus, 1941; bought from Kraus by Rudolf Wien, dealer of West End Avenue, New York, who broke up the book (before 9 February 1948, when leaves were sold anonymously in London, Sotheby's, lots 215 & 216) and resold five leaves back to Kraus. This leaf: bought by Martin Nachman, probably in the early 1950s; inherited by his daughter-in-law, Marian Nachman.
Notes
A single leaf from a Book of Hours with text and a coat of arms on its recto and a full-page miniature and three coats of arms on its verso.
Measurements: 200 x 135 (150 x 85) mm; 7 3/4 x 5 1/4 (5 7/8 x 3 5/8) inches
On the leaf's recto is the end of prayer, a Suffrage to Mary Magdalene, and the beginning of a Suffrage to St. Catherine, in Latin and Old French.
Text: "... euzs devaunt ma mort. V. Ora pro nobis beata Maria Magdalena ... Vi[rg]o s[an]c[t]a Katerina grecie ..."
Decoration: 1 full-page miniature with three coats of arms and a foliate border on the verso; a single coat of arms on the recto.
Thirty-one sisters miniatures to the present leaf are dispersed, some traced, others whereabouts unknown: St. Bartholomew (London, Sotheby's, 9 February 1948, lot 215; bought by Eiseman [£16]; Elizabeth M. Drey, New York [exhibited at the Montreal Museum, 1965]; Paul Drey Gallery, New York [exhibited at the University Art Gallery, Binghampton, 1968]; Sir John Pope-Hennessy [1913-1994]; his sale, New York, Christie's, 10 January 1996, lot 4; bought by Sam Fogg; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London, 1996 [his BM 1055; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18a]); All Saints (London, Christie's, 25 June 1997, lot 3; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London, his BM 1106, exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2014-2015; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18b); St. Saturninus (bought from Rudolf Wien by Eric Korner [his no. 20], 1952 [along with St. George]; his first sale, London, Sotheby's, 19 June 1990, lot 32; bought from the buyer by Bernard H. Breslauer [1918-2004], Voelkle and Wieck, Breslauer Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, 1992, no. 17; Sam Fogg; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London, 2003 [his BM 1434; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18c]); St. Christopher (London, Sotheby's, 18 June 2002, lot 20; London, Sotheby's, 2 July 2013, lot 29; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London [his BM 2413, exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2014-2015; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18d); St. Helena (1 of the 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by H.P. Kraus, Catalogue 80, 1956, no. 16c); St. Stephen (Bruce Ferrini, 1993); St. Margaret (London, Sotheby's, 9 February 1948, lot 216); a text leaf, St. Andrew, and St. Martin (the last previously owned by John Howell Books, San Francisco; all three now Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.74.100.1-3); St. Matthew (?) and St. James the Greater (Sarasota, John and Mabel Ringling Museum, nos. 730, 731); St. Nicholas (1 of 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by Kraus, Cat. 80, 1956, no. 16a, illus.; London, Sotheby's, 21 June 1994, lot 25, illus.; Sam Fogg; Bruce Ferrini, Catalogue 3, 1995, no. 18, illus.; Denver Art Museum, Berger Collection Educational Trust, TL-18663; London Sotheby's, 23 May 2017, lot 18, illus.); St. Barnabas (Ferrini, Catalogue 3, 1995, no. 19; Denver Art Museum, Berger Collection Educational Trust; London, Sotheby's, 23 May 2017, lot 19, illus.); St. George (bought from Wien by Eric Korner in 1952 [along with St. Saturninus]; his second sale, London, Sotheby's, 7 July 2009, lot 107, illus.; Sam Fogg; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London [his BM 1968]); St. Lazarus and St. Edmund (2 of 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by Kraus, Cat. 80, 1956, nos. 16d & e; both New York, private collection); St. Thomas (1 of 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by Kraus, Cat. 80, 1956, no. 16b; Bruce Ferrini; New York, second private collection).
Measurements: 200 x 135 (150 x 85) mm; 7 3/4 x 5 1/4 (5 7/8 x 3 5/8) inches
On the leaf's recto is the end of prayer, a Suffrage to Mary Magdalene, and the beginning of a Suffrage to St. Catherine, in Latin and Old French.
Text: "... euzs devaunt ma mort. V. Ora pro nobis beata Maria Magdalena ... Vi[rg]o s[an]c[t]a Katerina grecie ..."
Decoration: 1 full-page miniature with three coats of arms and a foliate border on the verso; a single coat of arms on the recto.
Thirty-one sisters miniatures to the present leaf are dispersed, some traced, others whereabouts unknown: St. Bartholomew (London, Sotheby's, 9 February 1948, lot 215; bought by Eiseman [£16]; Elizabeth M. Drey, New York [exhibited at the Montreal Museum, 1965]; Paul Drey Gallery, New York [exhibited at the University Art Gallery, Binghampton, 1968]; Sir John Pope-Hennessy [1913-1994]; his sale, New York, Christie's, 10 January 1996, lot 4; bought by Sam Fogg; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London, 1996 [his BM 1055; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18a]); All Saints (London, Christie's, 25 June 1997, lot 3; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London, his BM 1106, exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2014-2015; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18b); St. Saturninus (bought from Rudolf Wien by Eric Korner [his no. 20], 1952 [along with St. George]; his first sale, London, Sotheby's, 19 June 1990, lot 32; bought from the buyer by Bernard H. Breslauer [1918-2004], Voelkle and Wieck, Breslauer Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, 1992, no. 17; Sam Fogg; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London, 2003 [his BM 1434; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18c]); St. Christopher (London, Sotheby's, 18 June 2002, lot 20; London, Sotheby's, 2 July 2013, lot 29; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London [his BM 2413, exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2014-2015; Kidd, McCarthy Collection, II, 18d); St. Helena (1 of the 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by H.P. Kraus, Catalogue 80, 1956, no. 16c); St. Stephen (Bruce Ferrini, 1993); St. Margaret (London, Sotheby's, 9 February 1948, lot 216); a text leaf, St. Andrew, and St. Martin (the last previously owned by John Howell Books, San Francisco; all three now Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.74.100.1-3); St. Matthew (?) and St. James the Greater (Sarasota, John and Mabel Ringling Museum, nos. 730, 731); St. Nicholas (1 of 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by Kraus, Cat. 80, 1956, no. 16a, illus.; London, Sotheby's, 21 June 1994, lot 25, illus.; Sam Fogg; Bruce Ferrini, Catalogue 3, 1995, no. 18, illus.; Denver Art Museum, Berger Collection Educational Trust, TL-18663; London Sotheby's, 23 May 2017, lot 18, illus.); St. Barnabas (Ferrini, Catalogue 3, 1995, no. 19; Denver Art Museum, Berger Collection Educational Trust; London, Sotheby's, 23 May 2017, lot 19, illus.); St. George (bought from Wien by Eric Korner in 1952 [along with St. Saturninus]; his second sale, London, Sotheby's, 7 July 2009, lot 107, illus.; Sam Fogg; acquired by Robert McCarthy, London [his BM 1968]); St. Lazarus and St. Edmund (2 of 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by Kraus, Cat. 80, 1956, nos. 16d & e; both New York, private collection); St. Thomas (1 of 5 leaves re-acquired from Wien by Kraus, Cat. 80, 1956, no. 16b; Bruce Ferrini; New York, second private collection).
Language
Latin and Old French
Catalog link
Department