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Panel

ca. 1390-1410 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This bone plaque is made in about 1390-1410 in Itlay (Florence or Venice), by the workshop of Baldassare Ubriachi. It is carved in relief with a male figure bearing a shield and a club, behind which are three trees. The plaque came originally from one corner of a hexagonal casket.

The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s.
Baldassare Embrichi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433.

They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.




Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Bone, carved
Brief description
Plaque, bone, from a casket, a male figure with shield and a club and trees, by the workshop of Baldassare Ubriachi, Italy (Florence or Venice), ca. 1390-1410
Physical description
Plaque, bone, carved in relief with a young man, wearing a tightly fitting surcoat, which terminates at his thighs in a dagged hem. He stands in a contraposto pose, holding a shield in his left hand and a large club or rough lance with his right. On the back, towards the lower edge, the numeral 6 is written in pencil. Behind are three trees.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.7cm
  • Width: 2.6cm
Object history
Acquired in London from the architect Sydney Vacher, London, with a group of seven other ivory and bone objects, in 1900 (£5 for the whole group of objects).
Subjects depicted
Summary
This bone plaque is made in about 1390-1410 in Itlay (Florence or Venice), by the workshop of Baldassare Ubriachi. It is carved in relief with a male figure bearing a shield and a club, behind which are three trees. The plaque came originally from one corner of a hexagonal casket.

The Embriachi workshop was a north Italian family of entrepreneurs and carvers. The precise location of the workshop is unknown, except that it originated in Florence in around probably the 1370s.
Baldassare Embrichi, a member of a Florentine noble family, and the Florentine literary circles, during his career acted as both merchant and diplomat. He was therefore rather the financial means behind the bone-carving workshop that bears his name, rather than its leading artist. By 1395, political and financial circumstances had forced him to transfer to Venice. The suggested time range of activity for the workshop differs, from the tightest being 1390-1405, to a wider span of 1370s until at least 1416, but certainly no later than 1433.

They employed local workers specialising in 'certosina' (inlay of stained woods, bone and horn), and the workshop produced items carved in bone (usually horse or ox) with wood and bone marquetry.
As well as altarpieces, the workshop also made caskets as bridal gifts to hold jewels or documents, and these were often decorated with scenes from mythology.


Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1900. Arranged according to the dates of acquisition, with appendix and indices. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office. Wyman and Sons, 1903, p. 155
  • Longhurst, Margaret, H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. II. London: The Board of Education, 1929, p. 155
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014 part II, p. 828
  • Williamson, Paul and Davies, Glyn, Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550, (in 2 parts), V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, part II, p. 828, cat. no. 271
Collection
Accession number
1008-1900

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Record createdMay 11, 2009
Record URL
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