Lot with independent expertise for the marketing of antique ivory objects.

Losses and defects. On a plexiglass base.

Produced in France between 1530 and the middle of the century, probably in Paris, this comb, of which the central body and two side fragments are preserved, is part of a group of similar objects that has strong stylistic and thematic analogies: a comb ( not fragmentary) is kept in the Louvre (E. Molinier, "Catalog des ivoires. Musée national du Louvre", Paris 1896, n ° 157 / R. Koechlin, "Les Ivoires gothiques français", vol. III, Paris 1924, CXCIV) and one at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (P. Williamson and G. Davies, "Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550", Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2014, part II, pp. 630-631, cat. n ° 219 ), and both present a scene from the Judgment of Paris made in an almost analogous way to ours, with minimal variations. This scene is narrated on the objects as described in the work "Historia Destructionis Troiae" by Guido delle Colonne, written in Latin in 1287 and widely distributed in printed format starting from the end of the 15th century. Consistent with this literary inspiration is also the other side of our comb, depicting the Rape of Elena.

Comparative literature: E. Molinier, "Catalogue des ivoires. Musée national du Louvre", Paris 1896, n ° 157;
R. Koechlin, "Les Ivoires gothiques français", vol. III, Paris 1924, CXCIV;
P. Williamson and G. Davies, "Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1200-1550", Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2014, part II, pp. 630-631, cat. n ° 219.