Important 16th Century French Gilded Bronze 22 Inch Tall Crucifix Circa 1600
Item History & Price
Important late 16th century French Renaissancegilded bronze 22-inch tall crucifix, circa 1600We purchase collections of Continental lighting, metalwork, ceramics, glass & textiles, enabling me to offer a quantity of rareantiques. Please register my store/page in your favorites, for a fine range of 14th to 19th century period metalwork, lighting& other pieces, all guaranteed, as to age, condition & origin. Ihave far more than I can possibly keep up with, as to eBay. Tex...t, formatting & images © 2019 – R. JosefBurdett-Williamson – all rights reserved.Breveté, 2019, par M. R. Josef Burdett-Williamson. ATTENTION – défense de reproduction !
Please readall my terms of sale carefully!Elly BurdettThis is in France.Pieces in the group photo are for scale.You are only buying the featured crucifix.Free collection by appt. is possible:my collections & some of Elly’s many new arrivals can be viewed. Please note:For those not familiar with my eBay store, you are dealing with 2 different people in England & France. I’m apart-time antiques dealer, & sometimes exhibit at UK antiques shows.
My associate in France is an expat American historian of European DecorativeArts & museum curator, with 45 years of advanced experience. Sincerely, ET Burdett Dear friends &clients: We have more Fine Arts& Antiques than we can begin to keep up with, as to eBay – at least4, 000 period pieces. Group photos will give you a slight ideaof the depth of my collections, and Elly's inventory - more than 650 newacquisitions - keep watching this page. R. Josef
The antiques trade is rife withperpetuated errors, and moving to France 25 years ago meant that I had tounlearn more than a few. Schiffer’s TheBrass Book (pub. 1978) isnotoriously unreliable – and neither TheLear Collection, nor The EnglishCandlestick, 1425 to 1925 are much better. However, the Anglo-Americanworld does not hold a monopoly on the constant repetition of clichés anderrors - French metalwork and ceramics amateurs tend to tout the name of Jean Bérain– to the exclusion of all others – in reference to pieces that vaguely conformto some Bérain designs, but this is a huge, and grossly inaccurate over-simplification. In addition to the lost 17thcentury Classical works of the French master silversmith Germain (melted downto fund wars), the legendary French royal ebenistes, André-CharlesBoulle (1642-1732) and JeanPhilippe Boulle (1678-1744) produced numerous Decorative Arts engravings, completely independent of Jean Bérain (1640-1711).
The quality of casting and finishingdetail on this exceeding rare and tall crucifix is excellent, but less academic, andhas more in common with the smaller (albeit early) standing crucifixes in thegroup shot; Elly has sold quite a few in the past 8 years. At 22” (56 cm.) tall, this is the second-largestcopper alloy crucifix I have ever managed to acquire for Elly for resale – they areuniversally expensive on the French market. The acorn baluster knop is typicalof French lighting, prior to about 1640 – its earliest appearance remains to beprecisely documented, but there is no technical or aesthetic reason why this superb crucifix couldn’t be mid-16thcentury. Please keep in mind that circa means exactly that - about - and in this case, the range is from 1550 to 1640. Both the large size and lack of extensive surface rubbing rule thisout as being a domestic piece – it is either from a château chapel, church orcathedral. And, the obvious presence of the French royal Fleur-de-lys on thecross argues for it being from a high-status member of the church, wealthymerchant class or aristocracy. The Corpus Christi is held in place with asingle bronze pin and pivots slightly, but this is original to the piece, and presents no problems - no other pins are missing.The triangular base is flawless; the matchinggilded bronze surfaces on both the crucifix and base (quite a bit of the gilding is intact) are harmonious, but thiswas next to impossible to accurately capture in the photos. The shaft of the cross isslotted into the base, and pinned both front and back – and the original gildinggoes over the pins. I have seen this same type of slotted construction before, on other large 16th & early 17th century French bronze crucifixes, and can document it. As can be seen in photos 9, 10 & 12, the original gildingalso goes over the “grid” marks on the shaft – these are from an early benchvise – I recently bought 2, partly to document their existence and use – such “waffle”or grid marks are frequently found on pre-1690 Continental copper alloy pieces.The crucifix is technically untouched – there are no repairs whatsoever – allof the bronze pins are original and undisturbed. The only condition comment isthat the base of the shaft has been sloppily soldered to the left & right, where it fits into the base – this was not necessary, and can be cautiouslycleaned off. A very thin metal wafer can then be inserted into the minute gap, andglued in place with a high-strength epoxy.We are independently listed with the NewEngland Appraisers Association, for France or England.Condition: Outstanding, but as-seen, and as describedabove. There is otherwise considerably less than the usual amount ofsurface wear to be expected on a formal piece that has been polished over thepast 4 centuries. Please examine the photos closely – they are an integral partof the description. Note: Photos are high resolution – usemagnification for viewing details. Please ask, if you wish more.© R. JosefBurdett-Williamson Certified expert & appraiser, New England Appraisers Association.FoundingTrustee, NewBedford Museum of Glass.Height – 22” (56 cm.): maximum width – 7 & 7/8” (19.8 cm.): maximum footwidth – 7 & 5/6” (19.4 cm.). Weight – 2.84 kilos, notincluding packaging.Securely packed & insured shipping within France is 20 Euros; to the UK & EU is 30 Euros, & to North America is 58 Euros.We don't charge for packing & handling, & always offer grouped rate posting, with no time limits.We ship from both France & the UK– please read listings carefully – rates& conditions are substantially different.Important!We usually mail within 3 to 7 working days from clearance of payment: but request that buyers beunderstanding of delays due to illness, severe weather, or computer problems: this is strictly a small business, with no employees! Intolerantbuyers, or those leaving less than 5-star feedback (no longer invisible) willbe black-listed.This is not a"decorator" shop - eBay’s Consumer Goods-generated “Hassle-freereturns” policy does not apply to arbitrary whim, or unqualifiedopinion. Returns areaccepted - if: there is amajor problem with the age, condition or origin of a piece as described;and this is confirmed by aqualified expert with professionalcredentials. Photographs of any alleged damage arerequired - they are mandatory for insurance claims.What you pay for shippingis actual cost –international shipping is stupidlyexpensive - we have absolutely no control over rates – I lose 6% toPayPal, and often absorbextra costs, such as double-boxing. International buyers – please inquire, as to mailing costs!Note:Our independent certifications withthe New England Appraisers Association (in both France & England) expedite Customsclearances, and prevent duties being incorrectly imposed on antiques conformingto the 100 years legal dateline, thus saving buyers 10% to 43% in relevant countries.Payments:PayPal, French or UK checks, or bank drafts, & all banktransfers accepted. I amobliged to accept PayPal, but prefer bank transfers, or UK or French checks -PayPal takes a 6% bite out of all transactions - including shipping costs.Dear buyers – apologies for the intrusive copyrightlines, but they are there because R. Josef is an extensively published expertwith ongoing academic & commercial commissions, including forthcomingbooks. Listings often contain original research & information that has notappeared before; several British & Continental eBay sellers have beenreported for plagiarizing formatting & texts. We fiercely protectour Intellectual Property rights – and in court, when necessary.
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Please readall my terms of sale carefully!Elly BurdettThis is in France.Pieces in the group photo are for scale.You are only buying the featured crucifix.Free collection by appt. is possible:my collections & some of Elly’s many new arrivals can be viewed. Please note:For those not familiar with my eBay store, you are dealing with 2 different people in England & France. I’m apart-time antiques dealer, & sometimes exhibit at UK antiques shows.
My associate in France is an expat American historian of European DecorativeArts & museum curator, with 45 years of advanced experience. Sincerely, ET Burdett Dear friends &clients: We have more Fine Arts& Antiques than we can begin to keep up with, as to eBay – at least4, 000 period pieces. Group photos will give you a slight ideaof the depth of my collections, and Elly's inventory - more than 650 newacquisitions - keep watching this page. R. Josef
The antiques trade is rife withperpetuated errors, and moving to France 25 years ago meant that I had tounlearn more than a few. Schiffer’s TheBrass Book (pub. 1978) isnotoriously unreliable – and neither TheLear Collection, nor The EnglishCandlestick, 1425 to 1925 are much better. However, the Anglo-Americanworld does not hold a monopoly on the constant repetition of clichés anderrors - French metalwork and ceramics amateurs tend to tout the name of Jean Bérain– to the exclusion of all others – in reference to pieces that vaguely conformto some Bérain designs, but this is a huge, and grossly inaccurate over-simplification. In addition to the lost 17thcentury Classical works of the French master silversmith Germain (melted downto fund wars), the legendary French royal ebenistes, André-CharlesBoulle (1642-1732) and JeanPhilippe Boulle (1678-1744) produced numerous Decorative Arts engravings, completely independent of Jean Bérain (1640-1711).
The quality of casting and finishingdetail on this exceeding rare and tall crucifix is excellent, but less academic, andhas more in common with the smaller (albeit early) standing crucifixes in thegroup shot; Elly has sold quite a few in the past 8 years. At 22” (56 cm.) tall, this is the second-largestcopper alloy crucifix I have ever managed to acquire for Elly for resale – they areuniversally expensive on the French market. The acorn baluster knop is typicalof French lighting, prior to about 1640 – its earliest appearance remains to beprecisely documented, but there is no technical or aesthetic reason why this superb crucifix couldn’t be mid-16thcentury. Please keep in mind that circa means exactly that - about - and in this case, the range is from 1550 to 1640. Both the large size and lack of extensive surface rubbing rule thisout as being a domestic piece – it is either from a château chapel, church orcathedral. And, the obvious presence of the French royal Fleur-de-lys on thecross argues for it being from a high-status member of the church, wealthymerchant class or aristocracy. The Corpus Christi is held in place with asingle bronze pin and pivots slightly, but this is original to the piece, and presents no problems - no other pins are missing.The triangular base is flawless; the matchinggilded bronze surfaces on both the crucifix and base (quite a bit of the gilding is intact) are harmonious, but thiswas next to impossible to accurately capture in the photos. The shaft of the cross isslotted into the base, and pinned both front and back – and the original gildinggoes over the pins. I have seen this same type of slotted construction before, on other large 16th & early 17th century French bronze crucifixes, and can document it. As can be seen in photos 9, 10 & 12, the original gildingalso goes over the “grid” marks on the shaft – these are from an early benchvise – I recently bought 2, partly to document their existence and use – such “waffle”or grid marks are frequently found on pre-1690 Continental copper alloy pieces.The crucifix is technically untouched – there are no repairs whatsoever – allof the bronze pins are original and undisturbed. The only condition comment isthat the base of the shaft has been sloppily soldered to the left & right, where it fits into the base – this was not necessary, and can be cautiouslycleaned off. A very thin metal wafer can then be inserted into the minute gap, andglued in place with a high-strength epoxy.We are independently listed with the NewEngland Appraisers Association, for France or England.Condition: Outstanding, but as-seen, and as describedabove. There is otherwise considerably less than the usual amount ofsurface wear to be expected on a formal piece that has been polished over thepast 4 centuries. Please examine the photos closely – they are an integral partof the description. Note: Photos are high resolution – usemagnification for viewing details. Please ask, if you wish more.© R. JosefBurdett-Williamson Certified expert & appraiser, New England Appraisers Association.FoundingTrustee, NewBedford Museum of Glass.Height – 22” (56 cm.): maximum width – 7 & 7/8” (19.8 cm.): maximum footwidth – 7 & 5/6” (19.4 cm.). Weight – 2.84 kilos, notincluding packaging.Securely packed & insured shipping within France is 20 Euros; to the UK & EU is 30 Euros, & to North America is 58 Euros.We don't charge for packing & handling, & always offer grouped rate posting, with no time limits.We ship from both France & the UK– please read listings carefully – rates& conditions are substantially different.Important!We usually mail within 3 to 7 working days from clearance of payment: but request that buyers beunderstanding of delays due to illness, severe weather, or computer problems: this is strictly a small business, with no employees! Intolerantbuyers, or those leaving less than 5-star feedback (no longer invisible) willbe black-listed.This is not a"decorator" shop - eBay’s Consumer Goods-generated “Hassle-freereturns” policy does not apply to arbitrary whim, or unqualifiedopinion. Returns areaccepted - if: there is amajor problem with the age, condition or origin of a piece as described;and this is confirmed by aqualified expert with professionalcredentials. Photographs of any alleged damage arerequired - they are mandatory for insurance claims.What you pay for shippingis actual cost –international shipping is stupidlyexpensive - we have absolutely no control over rates – I lose 6% toPayPal, and often absorbextra costs, such as double-boxing. International buyers – please inquire, as to mailing costs!Note:Our independent certifications withthe New England Appraisers Association (in both France & England) expedite Customsclearances, and prevent duties being incorrectly imposed on antiques conformingto the 100 years legal dateline, thus saving buyers 10% to 43% in relevant countries.Payments:PayPal, French or UK checks, or bank drafts, & all banktransfers accepted. I amobliged to accept PayPal, but prefer bank transfers, or UK or French checks -PayPal takes a 6% bite out of all transactions - including shipping costs.Dear buyers – apologies for the intrusive copyrightlines, but they are there because R. Josef is an extensively published expertwith ongoing academic & commercial commissions, including forthcomingbooks. Listings often contain original research & information that has notappeared before; several British & Continental eBay sellers have beenreported for plagiarizing formatting & texts. We fiercely protectour Intellectual Property rights – and in court, when necessary.
00041
