18th century] · [Paris
by MINIATURE SILVER & ENAMEL BINDING
[Paris, 18th century]. Silver filigree binding (82 x 60 mm., including spine), the filigree covers of volutes and curling tendrils with inset painted ceramic or enamel oval centerpiece and heart-shaped corner-pieces showing putti in pastoral settings below love-related mottos in French (central plaque on front cover slightly damaged), both covers decorated with ten glass “amethysts”; ; hollow tubular filigree spine, pair of fore-edge clasps and catches, the silver binding attached to yellow silk-covered thin pasteboards, the yellow silk liners with pockets front and back; preserved in a modern morocco case. Containing a pasted-in modern illustrated manuscript. ***
This jeweled silver filigree binding with painted enamel plaques is in the style of a group of late 17th- or 18th-century miniature bindings with similar plaques, whose contextual circumstances point to Paris as place of production.
14 such bindings, including this one, are known, on manuscripts and on various late 17th-century editions of the Office of the Virgin, printed mostly in Paris from the 1670s to the early 1690s, including a few editions in Italian. (A census is available on request: it expands on that drawn up and kindly shared by Dr. Jan Storm van Leeuwen, who published an earlier version in the catalogue of Patricia Pistner’s miniature book collection, A Matter of Size, no. 123.) All but one of the bindings are miniature (measuring approximately 82 x 55/58 mm.) and are adorned with 20 cut-glass “jewels.” The silverwork is of two types: ten are filigree, with spiraling volutes, as in this binding, and four are in a floral ajouré or openwork design with stems, leaves and blossoms (as in the Pistner example).
The plaques, which are probably painted enamel*, are also of two types (not correlated with the two different silverwork types). The majority, eleven, show Christian religious figures, with no inscriptions; these are in at least two different styles, and were probably produced in different workshops. They are all found on editions of the Office of the Virgin, printed between 1672 and 1693, all but one in Paris. The four bindings of the second type (including this one), have secular enamels, painted in a rough, folk-art style, with putti and archaically spelled mottos relating to love. The other three are the Pistner binding (which is empty); and two other filigree examples, bound over Jewish or Hebrew manuscripts: one is in a private Swiss collection, and the other (in which the plaque inscriptions are in Italian) is held by Penn State University (acquired from us). All four of these “secular” bindings have oddly shaped spines, some slightly deformed. This may be a result of reworking the spines to accommodate thinner text blocks than those for which they were originally intended.
The design of the catches and joints of this binding, and its filigree silverwork, are similar to the other filigree secular bindings. The plaques especially resemble those of the example in the private collection; one of the central plaques shares the same inscription (here Rien m[’]arrest; in the other binding Rien m[’]arreste). However, the fine condition and perfectly rounded spine of this binding may also point to some 19th-century restoration, with possibly renewed glass stones.
Bookbindings of silver and previous metal were kept and reused through generations, and thus often appear on much later books or manuscripts. This binding presently houses a 20th-century mildly erotic manuscript in French, on 10 vellum leaves, the title Cantique de Salomon in a crowned frame, the 9 following leaves containing amateurish pencil and watercolor drawings on rectos only with one- or two-line captions. Originally glued in, most of the leaves are now loose. The manuscript is disposed in the style of a Hebrew codex, with the page order from left to right, and the Hebrew transcription of the name of God (YHWH) appears at the top of the title.
For examples of some of the other bindings, see A Matter of Size: Miniature bindings and texts from the collection of Patricia J. Pistner (2019), no. 123 (referring to 7 such bindings); F. Malaguzzi, Collezioni del Museo civico d'arte antica di Torino: legature (Turin, 2011), no. 92; Luigi Mallé, Smalti - Avori del Museo d’Arte Antico (Turin, 1969), pp. 113-114; G. Fletcher, Judging a Book by its Cover: Bookbindings in the Collections of the Grolier Club (NY, 2023), no. 3.13; Musinsky Rare Books, Catalogue 28, item 7; Patrick Olson, NY Book Fair List 2024.
* To quote our colleague Patrick Olson, describing one of these bindings: “When finely ground enamel frit was mixed with water, it formed a paste that could be painted on with a brush, then fired. The resulting lines could be quite well defined and resemble those made with traditional brushwork—much like the lines defining the figures on our enamels here. As it happens, the French had long been experts in this technique, the craftspeople of Limoges especially.” (Inventory #: 4426)
This jeweled silver filigree binding with painted enamel plaques is in the style of a group of late 17th- or 18th-century miniature bindings with similar plaques, whose contextual circumstances point to Paris as place of production.
14 such bindings, including this one, are known, on manuscripts and on various late 17th-century editions of the Office of the Virgin, printed mostly in Paris from the 1670s to the early 1690s, including a few editions in Italian. (A census is available on request: it expands on that drawn up and kindly shared by Dr. Jan Storm van Leeuwen, who published an earlier version in the catalogue of Patricia Pistner’s miniature book collection, A Matter of Size, no. 123.) All but one of the bindings are miniature (measuring approximately 82 x 55/58 mm.) and are adorned with 20 cut-glass “jewels.” The silverwork is of two types: ten are filigree, with spiraling volutes, as in this binding, and four are in a floral ajouré or openwork design with stems, leaves and blossoms (as in the Pistner example).
The plaques, which are probably painted enamel*, are also of two types (not correlated with the two different silverwork types). The majority, eleven, show Christian religious figures, with no inscriptions; these are in at least two different styles, and were probably produced in different workshops. They are all found on editions of the Office of the Virgin, printed between 1672 and 1693, all but one in Paris. The four bindings of the second type (including this one), have secular enamels, painted in a rough, folk-art style, with putti and archaically spelled mottos relating to love. The other three are the Pistner binding (which is empty); and two other filigree examples, bound over Jewish or Hebrew manuscripts: one is in a private Swiss collection, and the other (in which the plaque inscriptions are in Italian) is held by Penn State University (acquired from us). All four of these “secular” bindings have oddly shaped spines, some slightly deformed. This may be a result of reworking the spines to accommodate thinner text blocks than those for which they were originally intended.
The design of the catches and joints of this binding, and its filigree silverwork, are similar to the other filigree secular bindings. The plaques especially resemble those of the example in the private collection; one of the central plaques shares the same inscription (here Rien m[’]arrest; in the other binding Rien m[’]arreste). However, the fine condition and perfectly rounded spine of this binding may also point to some 19th-century restoration, with possibly renewed glass stones.
Bookbindings of silver and previous metal were kept and reused through generations, and thus often appear on much later books or manuscripts. This binding presently houses a 20th-century mildly erotic manuscript in French, on 10 vellum leaves, the title Cantique de Salomon in a crowned frame, the 9 following leaves containing amateurish pencil and watercolor drawings on rectos only with one- or two-line captions. Originally glued in, most of the leaves are now loose. The manuscript is disposed in the style of a Hebrew codex, with the page order from left to right, and the Hebrew transcription of the name of God (YHWH) appears at the top of the title.
For examples of some of the other bindings, see A Matter of Size: Miniature bindings and texts from the collection of Patricia J. Pistner (2019), no. 123 (referring to 7 such bindings); F. Malaguzzi, Collezioni del Museo civico d'arte antica di Torino: legature (Turin, 2011), no. 92; Luigi Mallé, Smalti - Avori del Museo d’Arte Antico (Turin, 1969), pp. 113-114; G. Fletcher, Judging a Book by its Cover: Bookbindings in the Collections of the Grolier Club (NY, 2023), no. 3.13; Musinsky Rare Books, Catalogue 28, item 7; Patrick Olson, NY Book Fair List 2024.
* To quote our colleague Patrick Olson, describing one of these bindings: “When finely ground enamel frit was mixed with water, it formed a paste that could be painted on with a brush, then fired. The resulting lines could be quite well defined and resemble those made with traditional brushwork—much like the lines defining the figures on our enamels here. As it happens, the French had long been experts in this technique, the craftspeople of Limoges especially.” (Inventory #: 4426)
(212) 579-2099![[Incipit:] A la muy Esclarecida Señora, mi Señora la Señora, Doña Isabel Salzedo Azcona, Rio, &c. Condesa de Gomara, &c., dignissima esposa del Señor D. Manuel Villavicencio ... Marques de Alcantara, del Cuerbo, &c. Señora, aun no perfectamente deliberado a presidir este primero publico rasgo de mi corto ingenio in este Celeste Theatro de Salamanca …](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/650/712/1676712650.0.m.jpg)
