Masters of the Gold Scrolls (active 1410-1455)
Masters of the Gold Scrolls (active 1410-1455)
Book of Hours, use of Rome and Rouen, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Bruges, 1420s]
A fully-illustrated Book of Hours featuring the decorative filigree backgrounds associated with the work of the Masters of the Gold Scrolls, the illuminators whose output dominated Bruges manuscript production for the export market in the second quarter of the 15th century.
165 x 124mm. iii + 133 + iii, misbound, some text leaves lacking and some replaced later in the century, 18 lines, ruled space: 105 x 69mm, one-line illuminated initials with black penwork flourishing and two- to four-line illuminated initials on blue and pink grounds with white tracery throughout, 12 full-page arch-topped miniatures within full borders of acanthus leaves and flowers infilled with ivy-leaf stems, on all but one occasion facing text pages with five- to six-line decorated initials on gold grounds within full borders (instances of pigment flaking and a few stains across the miniatures). 19th-century red morocco gilt.
Provenance: (1) Written and illuminated in Bruges for the export market, with the Hours of the Virgin for the standard use of Rome and the Office of the Dead, unusually, for the use of Rouen; the Suffrages, on later added leaves, include St Eutropia of Reims and St Fiacre. (2) John Towneley (1731-1813): his bookplate inside the upper cover. Likely lot 871 in the Towneley sale by R.H. Evans, 8 June 1814. (3) Adam Sim of Coulter Mains, Scotland (1805-1868, antiquarian): his bookplate on the recto of the first flyleaf, along with text cut from a newspaper or another printed issue pasted onto the second flyleaf reading ‘ADAM SIM, Coulter, Saturday November 22, 1851’. (4) William Barclay David Donald Turnbull (1811-1863, advocate and antiquary): printed catalogue description pasted inside the upper cover with a pencil annotation identifying the present manuscript as having formed part of his library; ?his sale, 27 November 1863. (5) Ludwig Freude (1889-1956): ex-libris on the verso of the first flyleaf.
Content: Blanks ff.1-2; Calendar ff.3-14; Short Hours of the Cross ff.16-19; Mass of the Virgin Mary ff.21-23; Gospel extracts ff.23v-28; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome ff.30-77: matins f.30, lauds f.43, prime f.51, terce f.55, sext f.58, none f.61, vespers f.64, compline f.69; Suffrages (opening incompletely, on replaced leaves) ff.78-81; ruled blanks ff.82-83; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.85-97; O intemerata ff.98-100; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen f.102-122; prayer to the Imago Christi ff.122v-125; Suffrages (misbound, on replaced leaves) ff.126-128; Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, in French (on replaced leaves) ff.128v-133.
Illumination: The style of illumination is associable with the oeuvre of the so-called Masters of the Gold Scrolls, known for their elaborate decorative backgrounds in liquid gold on pink-red grounds; the sweet faces with soft chins folding into the necks of the figures are another identifying characteristic. The leading providers of book illumination in Bruges from around 1410 to the 1450s, they served a varied clientele and decorated books for the home market and for export. The same artist who illuminated these Hours also painted the Annunciation miniature in a Book of Hours in Liège (Bibl. de l'Université, Ms. Wittert 17; the miniature on f.52), while the borders, which combine a mixture of pen-and-ink rinceaux with spiny acanthus sprigs confined to the corners, are found in early Gold Scrolls manuscripts such the Book of Hours held at Stonyhurst College (Ms. 35). We are grateful to Professor Gregory Clark for identifying the artist responsible for our Hours from among the Gold Scrolls group and for dating this manuscript to the 1420s, alongside a Book of Hours at the Hague (Museum Meermanno, Ms. MMW 10 F 11).
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows: Crucifixion f.15v; Virgin and Child f.20v; Annunciation f.29v; Visitation f.42v; Nativity f.50v; Annunciation to the Shepherds f.54v; Adoration of the Magi f.57v; Presentation in the Temple f.60v; Massacre of the Innocents f.63v; Flight into Egypt f.68v; Last Judgement f.84v; Funeral Mass f.101v.
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Masters of the Gold Scrolls (active 1410-1455)
Book of Hours, use of Rome and Rouen, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Bruges, 1420s]
A fully-illustrated Book of Hours featuring the decorative filigree backgrounds associated with the work of the Masters of the Gold Scrolls, the illuminators whose output dominated Bruges manuscript production for the export market in the second quarter of the 15th century.
165 x 124mm. iii + 133 + iii, misbound, some text leaves lacking and some replaced later in the century, 18 lines, ruled space: 105 x 69mm, one-line illuminated initials with black penwork flourishing and two- to four-line illuminated initials on blue and pink grounds with white tracery throughout, 12 full-page arch-topped miniatures within full borders of acanthus leaves and flowers infilled with ivy-leaf stems, on all but one occasion facing text pages with five- to six-line decorated initials on gold grounds within full borders (instances of pigment flaking and a few stains across the miniatures). 19th-century red morocco gilt.
Provenance: (1) Written and illuminated in Bruges for the export market, with the Hours of the Virgin for the standard use of Rome and the Office of the Dead, unusually, for the use of Rouen; the Suffrages, on later added leaves, include St Eutropia of Reims and St Fiacre. (2) John Towneley (1731-1813): his bookplate inside the upper cover. Likely lot 871 in the Towneley sale by R.H. Evans, 8 June 1814. (3) Adam Sim of Coulter Mains, Scotland (1805-1868, antiquarian): his bookplate on the recto of the first flyleaf, along with text cut from a newspaper or another printed issue pasted onto the second flyleaf reading ‘ADAM SIM, Coulter, Saturday November 22, 1851’. (4) William Barclay David Donald Turnbull (1811-1863, advocate and antiquary): printed catalogue description pasted inside the upper cover with a pencil annotation identifying the present manuscript as having formed part of his library; ?his sale, 27 November 1863. (5) Ludwig Freude (1889-1956): ex-libris on the verso of the first flyleaf.
Content: Blanks ff.1-2; Calendar ff.3-14; Short Hours of the Cross ff.16-19; Mass of the Virgin Mary ff.21-23; Gospel extracts ff.23v-28; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome ff.30-77: matins f.30, lauds f.43, prime f.51, terce f.55, sext f.58, none f.61, vespers f.64, compline f.69; Suffrages (opening incompletely, on replaced leaves) ff.78-81; ruled blanks ff.82-83; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.85-97; O intemerata ff.98-100; Office of the Dead, use of Rouen f.102-122; prayer to the Imago Christi ff.122v-125; Suffrages (misbound, on replaced leaves) ff.126-128; Fifteen Joys of the Virgin, in French (on replaced leaves) ff.128v-133.
Illumination: The style of illumination is associable with the oeuvre of the so-called Masters of the Gold Scrolls, known for their elaborate decorative backgrounds in liquid gold on pink-red grounds; the sweet faces with soft chins folding into the necks of the figures are another identifying characteristic. The leading providers of book illumination in Bruges from around 1410 to the 1450s, they served a varied clientele and decorated books for the home market and for export. The same artist who illuminated these Hours also painted the Annunciation miniature in a Book of Hours in Liège (Bibl. de l'Université, Ms. Wittert 17; the miniature on f.52), while the borders, which combine a mixture of pen-and-ink rinceaux with spiny acanthus sprigs confined to the corners, are found in early Gold Scrolls manuscripts such the Book of Hours held at Stonyhurst College (Ms. 35). We are grateful to Professor Gregory Clark for identifying the artist responsible for our Hours from among the Gold Scrolls group and for dating this manuscript to the 1420s, alongside a Book of Hours at the Hague (Museum Meermanno, Ms. MMW 10 F 11).
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows: Crucifixion f.15v; Virgin and Child f.20v; Annunciation f.29v; Visitation f.42v; Nativity f.50v; Annunciation to the Shepherds f.54v; Adoration of the Magi f.57v; Presentation in the Temple f.60v; Massacre of the Innocents f.63v; Flight into Egypt f.68v; Last Judgement f.84v; Funeral Mass f.101v.
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