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#190: By Ian Wardropper, Director Transcript

One of the distinctive art forms of the French Renaissance, enamel painting flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the city of Limoges, in southwest-central France. The production of enamel—essentially powdered glass on a metal substrate—required highly specialized skills, with artists of the Limoges workshops marshaling a variety of materials and techniques to achieve the desired colors, opacities, and other effects. The objects displayed in these cases represent the handful of dominant workshops that operated over generations to satisfy the demand for Limoges enamels across Europe. This includes the workshop of Suzanne de Court, who is the only known female head of a workshop active in Limoges.

Like all of these objects, the saltcellars indicate the wealth and status of their owners. Technical analysis of the Orpheus saltcellars, signed by Suzanne de Court, suggests that they were rarely, if ever, used to hold salt, then a very costly luxury. They were perhaps used primarily for display.

The subjects depicted on the objects displayed here represent the interests of their patrons: chiefly religious and mythological subjects as well as portraits, which were typically made at a small scale. The ambitious plaque of the Triumph of the Eucharist and the Catholic Faith, by Léonard Limousin, combines religious subject matter with a rare group portrait of the powerful Guise family.

Ewer: The Trojan Horse; A Cavalry Combat

 (French, act. late 16th century)
Datelate 16th–early 17th century
MediumEnamel on copper
Dimensions11 1/4 × 5 3/8 × 4 1/4 in. (28.6 × 13.7 × 10.8 cm)
Credit LineHenry Clay Frick Bequest
Accession number1916.4.13
Commentary

Jean Pénicaud III continued the stylistic traditions of his family’s dynasty into the seventeenth century. Creating figures in grisaille toned with a pale flesh hue, he depicts the Trojan War by drawing upon sources from two printmakers: the French etcher Jean Mignon for the episode of the wooden horse and the Italian engraver Agostino Veneziano for the combat of horsemen. The coat of arms held by two standing putti is that of Dominique de Vic, who was Abbot of Bec-Hellouin when this enamel was made. Such heraldic devices usually mark coordinated services, but no other matching enamels are known.

Source: Wardropper, Ian and Julia Day. Limoges Enamels at The Frick Collection. New York: The Frick Collection/D Giles Limited, 2015.

Collection History

J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York. Duveen. Frick, 1916.

Source: Enamels, Rugs and Silver in The Frick Collection. Volume VIII. New York: The Frick Collection, 1977.

Not On View
Front view of an enamel plaque representing The Agony in the Garden in its decorative frame of …
Jean Pénicaud I
ca. 1520−25
Front view of polychrome enamel Triptych representing The Way to Calvary; The Crucifixion; Piet…
Attributed to Jean Pénicaud I
ca. 1525−35
Front view of enameled plaque representing the Martyrdom of a Saint
Attributed to Jean Pénicaud I
ca. 1525−35
Front view of enameled polychrome Triptych depicting The Lineage of St. Anne
In the style of Jean II Pénicaud
19th century (?)
Front view of a Double-Tiered enameled polychrome Triptych depicting Scenes from the Passion of…
Workshop of Nardon Pénicaud
mid-16th century
Polychrome enamel Triptych representing The Way to Calvary; The Crucifixion; The Desposition
Workshop of Nardon Pénicaud
ca. 1520−25
View from the top of an enameled polychrome Ewer Stand showing Moses Striking the Rock
Workshop of Pierre Reymond
late 16th century
Frontal view of ewer in polychrome enamel showing The Gathering of Manna and The Destruction of…
Workshop of Pierre Reymond
late 16th century
Black painted enamel ewer
Pierre Reymond
late 16th century
Side view of polychrome enamel ewer depicting the Triumph of Bacchus and the Triumph of Diana
Master I.C.
late 16th century
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