Lot 17B email save

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT LEAVES (3). France, 15th c

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT LEAVES , France,15th Century. Three leaves from a noted Missal , in Latin, on vellum.

[France, ?Britanny, c. 1430s]. each (310 x 230 mm). Double column, 30 lines in black ink in an upright gothic bookhand between 4 verticals and 31 horizontals ruled in grey, one leaf with respectively 9 and 10 lines of musical notation on verso, in square neumes on four-line red staves. Rubricated in red, one heading in gold. Guide letters for rubrics in margins. Numerous illuminated initials in various sizes: three large initials in blue or red on burnished gold grounds with red or blue infill and white penwork decoration, 43 three- to one-line initials in gold on blue and red grounds and with gold, blue and red foliate infill, three line-fillers or Greek crosses in blue or red on gold grounds. Three pages including the page with music with bar borders in burnished gold and pink or blue and with full illuminated borders of acanthus leaves and flowering naturalistic plants in red, blue, green, or gold and hairline tendrils in black ink terminating in gold disks, flower buds and trefoils. Condition: a few small marginal holes and some holes in text block caused by acidic ink. Provenance: Cornelius J Hauck Collection, sale Christies New York, 27th June 2006 lot 104. These leaves were part of a lavishly decorated Missal. The style of the border decoration, particularly the use of orange and liquid gold fruits, evokes the illuminator known as the Master of Margaret of Orléans (duchess of Brittany), and the manuscript may have been produced in Brittany. The leaves contain the opening of the Introit Benedicta sit sancta trinita for Mass on Trinity Sunday, the Introit Resurrexi et adhuc tecum for Mass on Easter Sunday, and the Preface Per omnia secula seculorum from the Canon of the Mass. (3)