ENAMEL PLAQUE "ALLEGORY OF THE MONTH OF JULY" Limoges, dated 1563. Monogrammed I.R (presumably Jean Reymond, d. ca. 1602).

ENAMEL PLAQUE "ALLEGORY OF THE MONTH OF JULY"

Limoges, dated 1563. Monogrammed I.R (presumably Jean Reymond, d. ca. 1602).
Depiction of three figures working in the fields. Above, Leo as the zodiac sign of the month within a cloud cartouche. Inscribed "IUL" (for Julius) above. On the reverse, an old label inscribed "La moisson" and with inv. no. 270. With later frame.
15.5 × 19.5 cm.
Various restorations and chips along the edges and in the corners.

Provenance:
German private collection.

The Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin holds a series of eleven plates depicting the months by Pierre Reymond, dated to the period after 1568. These are based on a series of engravings by Étienne Delaune (1518–1583). Unfortunately, the July plate is missing from the Berlin collection. Comparison with an example of the July plate in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris reveals certain similarities in the treatment of the figures, although the composition differs. A clear connection with Delaune’s models is, however, evident in the zodiac sign of Leo within the cloud-framed cartouche. In the engraved models these signs are depicted naturalistically, whereas on the present plaque, as on Pierre Reymond’s month plates, they are rendered in stylized form (cf. Susanne Netzer, "Maleremails aus Limoges. Der Bestand des Berliner Kunstgewerbemuseums", Berlin 1999, pp. 78–83, no. 7).