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Fifteenth Century Reliquary Pendant with St. Catherine

Fifteenth Century Reliquary Pendant with St. Catherine

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Fifteenth Century Reliquary Pendant with St. Catherine

About the Item

Reliquary Pendant with St. Catherine Capsule: Transylvania; medallion: Germany, c. 1475–1500 Silver, gilded silver Weight 49.6 grams; dimensions 57 × 51 × 18 mm, opens to 72 mm The surfaces of this small reliquary pendant create a delightful play between open and closed, three dimensional and engraved, and silver and gold, providing a rich tactile and visual experience for its owner, who must have been a devotee of St. Catherine of Alexandria. Double-sided round capsule with hinged lid and a pierced gold central medallion depicting St. Catherine with the wheel. This is framed by a concave silver border with riveted appliqué floral (missing either gemstone or enameled center) and furling foliate decoration and beaded wires. On the reverse is an inset golden medallion with engraved Crucifixion scene with the Virgin Mary and St. John and stars in the background. The outer frame is formed of two elaborately twisted strip wires with indentations, almost foliage-like in appearance. The center image of Catherine is surrounded by a relatively plain gold molding and then an elaborately decorated border. It is that border that is reminiscent of the border with lavish, heavily worked three-dimensional foliage on a similar contemporary pendant in Cologne. However, on the Cologne example, the border surrounds a mother of pearl image of the Virgin. The Catherine pendant has a hinge at the top, and there are pierced elements in the central disk—presumably so that the owner could see relics or relic wrappings inside the precious piece of jewelry. On the reverse is a beautiful rendering of the Crucifixion engraved into the gilded surface. With this image, the owner’s more specific devotion to Catherine is balanced with a more universal devotion to the Passion. Catherine was one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, considered the foremost virgin after Mary and renowned for her intellectual accomplishments and gruesome martyrdom. Her body was believed to be interred on the Sinai Peninsula. Another object in this book also celebrates the saint. Catherine’s legend recounts that she was of noble birth, the daughter of the governor of Alexandria; a well-educated young girl. She was converted to Christianity by a vision she experienced of the Virgin in which she “mystically” married the Christ Child. In turn she was able to convert many others through her eloquence. When the Roman emperor Maxentius (286–305) began to persecute Christians, she took it upon herself to chastise him. In consternation, the emperor summoned fifty philosophers to debate her, but she won the contest and even converted some of her opponents, who were put to death. Her own torture and martyrdom then began in earnest. As with many other early Christian martyrs, she was subjected to a series of tortures including scourging and torture on a wheel, but none of them were effective; their cruelty served only to convert the onlookers. Her persecutor also offered to marry her, but she replied that she was already married. Finally, as the last effort, she was awarded the honorable Roman execution, that is, she was beheaded by the sword. There is, in fact, no evidence that Catherine ever existed, and it has even been suggested that the story follows that of the learned Hypatia, a Greek female polymath who was murdered by a Christian mob. Nevertheless, Catherine’s cult in the Middle Ages was enthusiastic and widespread, and she was thought to be one of the most effective of intercessors. St. Catherine is known especially as the patron of young unmarried women and female students. As in many depictions, on this medallion, Catherine is given the attributes of the wheel and the sword as representative of aspects of her martyrdom. (In other depictions she is offered a ring by the Christ Child.) She also is depicted with the halo of a saint and the full and lavish skirts of a noblewoman. Provenance: Howard Neville Collection, a dealer-collector with an interest in liturgical vestments, textiles and early works of art, his sale, London, Bonhams, 9 December 2009, lot. 6. Comparisons and Literature: Related round pendant capsules seem to have been in use about 1460-1500. For an example with engraved reverse and foliate decoration from the Cistercian Nunnery in Lichtenthal, near BadenBaden, see exh. cat., Spätmittelalter am Oberrhein 2001, pp. 236-37, no. 134, and 68-71. Further comparisons are in The Treasury of Basel Cathedral, Historisches Museum Basel (exh. cat., The Treasury of Basel Cathedral 2001, pp. 163- 65) and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Lightbown 1992, p. 509, no. 50). The wires and foliage of the piece here, however, point to a Transylvanian origin. Goldsmiths’ work made by the Saxons in Transylvania (Hungary and Romania) in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was treasured and sought after; see Klusch 1988, figs. 94- 98. Perhaps the capsule was made in Transylvania, and the engraved medallion on the reverse from the Upper Rhine was inserted. Both are of the same period. The engraved Crucifixion scene is based on prints by the Master E.S., Martin Schongauer, and Albrecht Dürer. Cf. a print by Master E.S. with the Crucifixion in the Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden (Höfler 2007, vol. 1, fig. 32 and fig. 195).

Metal:
Gold,Silver,Gilt Metal
Weight:
49.6 g
Dimensions:
Width: 2.25 in (57 mm)Depth: 0.71 in (18 mm)Length: 2.01 in (51 mm)
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
15th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
c. 1475-1500
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Chicago, IL
Reference Number:
Seller: J-350021stDibs: LU2334213072392

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