A FRENCH ENAMEL PANEL, LIMOGES, LATE 15TH / EARLY 16TH CENTURY

enamelled and with gilt details depicting The Adoration of the Christ Child, St Joseph holding a candle, the Virgin with hands in prayer, behind her the ox and ass in the manger, the domed rectangular copper panel set in a later silver frame inscribed to base 'VENITE ADOREMUS DOMINUM', the reverse engraved with a coat of arms, also with two 'THOS F. FLANNARY COLL. CHICAGO' labels, one numbered 14, the other 999, with suspension chains joined by an openwork trefoil loop

frame 10.5cm long

Provenance: with Stora and Co., New York, before 1963; Thomas F. Flannary collection; his sale, Sotheby's, London, 1-2 December 1983, lot 214; with Trinity Fine Art Ltd., London

Exhibited: Martin D'Arcy Gallery of Art, Loyola University of Chicago, 'Enamels: the XII to the XVI Century', 1970, No.22

The Arms may be those of the van den Ende family of Holland.

According to the New York Times: 'Thomas F. Flannery Jr. [1926-1980], a Chicago neon-sign producer, was a born collector. He began by acquiring guns and clocks - mechanical things - in his teens. Then, at the age of 21, he made his first purchase in the field of medieval and Renaissance art, a collecting interest that absorbed him until his death… Mr. Flannery possessed a taste for aristocratic and ecclesiastical objects, for flamboyant works boasting rich and colorful surfaces and a great deal of brilliance. It was a taste shaped, probably, by his Irish roots and his education under the Jesuits at Loyola University.' (New York Times, 13 November 1983, Section 2, p.27) His collection of Medieval and Renaissance art, numbering more than 430 objects, was auctioned over two days at Sotheby's in London, totalling around £2 million.

Part proceeds to benefit Westminster Abbey