This holy scene has ivory figures set within a scene carved in mother of pearl and surrounded by marine motifs and coral branches. It is supported by a shelf with double scrolls inside a compartment veneered with lapis lazuli and edged in ivory. The octagonal outer frame has a convex profile in tortoiseshell punctuated with bronze leaves on an ebonized background.
This piece is one of a group of devotional works that includes some well-known pieces (Splendori 2001, pp. 154-169), sometimes attributed to the Tipa family of Trapanese ivory carvers active in the 18th century (ibid, p. 397). The valuable nature of the artefact presented here is also signalled by its luxurious frame and the background of lapis lazuli, a material sometimes used to contrast with the colour of coral. As examples, we could mention a crucifix with a foot inlaid with coral and the body of Christ in the same material (Tescione 1966, plate 33) and a bronze aedicule with the figure of St Albert in coral against a lapis lazuli background (Coralli 1986, no. 92).
This holy scene has ivory figures set within a scene carved in mother of pearl and surrounded by marine motifs and coral branches. It is supported by a shelf with double scrolls inside a compartment veneered with lapis lazuli and edged in ivory. The octagonal outer frame has a convex profile in tortoiseshell punctuated with bronze leaves on an ebonized background.
This piece is one of a group of devotional works that includes some well-known pieces (Splendori 2001, pp. 154-169), sometimes attributed to the Tipa family of Trapanese ivory carvers active in the 18th century (ibid, p. 397). The valuable nature of the artefact presented here is also signalled by its luxurious frame and the background of lapis lazuli, a material sometimes used to contrast with the colour of coral. As examples, we could mention a crucifix with a foot inlaid with coral and the body of Christ in the same material (Tescione 1966, plate 33) and a bronze aedicule with the figure of St Albert in coral against a lapis lazuli background (Coralli 1986, no. 92).
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