Enfilade

From the V&A:

Baroque and Later Ivories in the V&A
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 25 January — 28 September 2014

This is a display of a number of sculptures from the outstanding collection of baroque and later ivories in the V&A, including German, Austrian, Netherlandish, French, British and Hispanic works. A range of objects will be seen: portrait busts, tankards, statuettes, and devotional reliefs. Carved and turned ivories were highly treasured items throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They might render dramatic mythological scenes, present exquisitely carved portrait likenesses on a small scale, or depict religious narratives. This small exhibition celebrates the recent publication of a catalogue of these ivories at the V&A.

From the V&A Shop:

Marjorie Trusted, Baroque and Later Ivories in the V&A (London: V&A Publishing, 2013), 544 pages, ISBN: 978-1851777679, £85.

Over 500 baroque and later ivories from the V&A’s outstanding collection are illustrated and discussed in this scholarly catalogue. This publication includes every ivory sculpture made after 1550 from a collection comprising German, Austrian, Netherlandish, British, French, Italian, Scandinavian, Russian and Spanish pieces, as well as examples from the Philippines, Goa, Sri Lanka and South America. The range of objects is extensive: statuettes, reliefs, tankards, boxes, cabinets, snuff rasps and cutlery handles are all represented. These small-scale sculptures might render dramatic scenes from mythology, present exquisitely carved portrait likenesses on a small scale, or depict religious narratives. The high quality of the V&A’s holdings is readily apparent; leading ivory sculptors to be found here include Francis van Bossuit, Benjamin Cheverton, Balthasar Griessmann, Joachim Henne, Johann Christoph Ludwig Lücke, David Le Marchand, and Balthasar Permoser. In addition to detailed entries on each piece, the Introduction summarises the history and techniques of baroque and later ivory carving, while indexes of subjects and artists, in addition to a comprehensive bibliography, provide a full scholarly apparatus.

Marjorie Trusted is Senior Curator of Sculpture at the V&A. She has published and lectured widely, specializing in European art from the seventeenth century onwards, in particular British and Spanish sculpture. Her books include Spanish Sculpture (V&A 1996), British Sculpture 1470–2000 (co-author, V&A 2002), The Making of Sculpture (V&A 2007), and The Arts of Spain (V&A 2007).