Lovely creamy parchment leaf with unusual borders of knotted ropes and a neat humanist script typical of the French Renaissance.

168 × 113 mm. Single leaf, ruled in drypoint for single column of seventeen lines (justification: 91 × 58 mm), written in a rounded humanist script, with calendar entries in red and brown ink, Saint Amandus and Saint Vedast (Feb. 6) indicate Chartres Use, single and two-line initials in liquid gold on alternating red and blue grounds, two-line initial with decorative gold penwork, framed within a striking trompe-l'œil border of knotted cord (Cordeliers borders), with terminal loops and painted shadows for dimensional effect. Slight thinning and tearing at inner margin from previous binding, else in good condition.

This illuminated manuscript leaf originates from a dispersed Book of Hours produced in Paris circa 1520. Evidence of its intended audience appears in the calendar: the feast of Saints Amandus and Vedast on February 6 is highlighted, saints especially venerated in the Chartres region during this period. This feature, combined with other local observances – for example, a sister leaf for October notes the dedication of Notre-Dame de Chartres on October 17 – strongly suggests a patron from Diocese of Chartres.

The decorative program of the leaf is both sumptuous and emblematic of the era’s Parisian style. Three one-line illuminated initials (gold or blue on contrasting red/blue grounds) punctuate the text and a larger two-line “KL” monogram (for Kalendas). An illusionistic border of entwined cordelière (knotted rope) frames the page, a motif associated with Parisian ateliers and particularly favored by Franciscan-affiliated patrons (the Cordeliers) in France. Written in a disciplined rounded script, the overall design reflects the high quality typical of early sixteenth-century Parisian Horae destined for discerning provincial patrons. Such features place the leaf in the orbit of Jean Pichore and Étienne Colaud, leading illuminators whose workshops produced elaborately decorated Horae for both fashionable Parisian clients and regional ecclesiastical elites.

Provenance
(1) Private Collection, California, USA.

Sister leaves
Although we have not yet identified the parent manuscript, sister leaves include: Private collection, United Kingdom (f. 10), Calendar page for October with Chartres entries; Private collection in Grimsby, United Kingdom (f. 48v), Antiphon and Chapter at None; and Charles Puckett, Akron, Ohio, inventory no. IM-7276: Hours of the Holy Spirit at Matins.

LITERATURE
Unpublished. For related literature see: Janet Backhouse, “Étienne Colaud and Sixteenth-Century Manuscript Illumination in Paris,” The British Library Journal 13, no. 1 (1987), pp. 1–16; Myra D. Orth, “Jean Pichore and the French Renaissance Workshop,” The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 15 (1987), pp. 59–74; Olga Zvereva, “La production de Jean Pichore: entre manuscrits et imprimés,” in Artistes, artisans et production artistique au Moyen Âge, vol. 2, ed. Xavier Barral i Altet, Paris, 1990, pp. 475–490; Eberhard König, “Jean Pichore und die Werkstattmalerei in Paris um 1500,” in Mittelalterliche Buchmalerei: Forschungsperspektiven und Methoden, ed. Kurt Holter and Gude Suckale-Redlefsen, Wiesbaden, 1994, pp. 167–188; Caroline Zöhl, Jean Pichore: Buchmaler, Graphiker und Verleger in Paris um 1500, Turnhout, 2004; Myra D. Orth, Renaissance Manuscripts: The Sixteenth Century, 2 vols., London, 2005.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale and Elliot Adam for consultation on this entry.