{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O156795"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O156795/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CP2601/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CP2601/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CP2601","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CP2599","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CP2598","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O156795/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O156795","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.17-2008","objectType":"Altar","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"These precious materials are typical of mid-18th-century Roman creations. The angels are modelled on sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). The altar - used for devotions in a private chapel - was probably a royal gift for Marie Josephe (1731-67), daughter-in-law of Louis XV of France. Her initials appear beneath the royal crown on the marble door which opens to reveal a tortoise-shell lined interior compartment.\r\n\r\nSir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world’s great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes.  Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.","physicalDescription":"White marble house altar of architectural form with a crown on the bottom panel with the initials MJL (possibly for Marie Josephe, daughter-in-law of Louis XV). The altar is decorated with alabaster, amethyst, tortoiseshell and silver-gilt.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"alabaster","id":"AAT11101"},{"text":"amethyst","id":"AAT11133"},{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"},{"text":"silver-gilt","id":"x37998"},{"text":"wood","id":"AAT11914"},{"text":"tortoiseshell","id":"AAT11837"}],"techniques":[{"text":"mounting","id":"AAT81370"},{"text":"supporting","id":"AAT53768"},{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"},{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"},{"text":"inlay (process)","id":"AAT53850"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Alabaster, amethyst, marble, silver-gilt, wood, tortoiseshell","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2009CP2601","2009CP2599","2009CP2598"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES409762"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"altars","id":"AAT3725"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Rome","id":"x29106"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1750","earliest":"1745-01-01","latest":"1754-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"59.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"38.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"24.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"16.52","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"The bottom panel with the initials MJL (possibly for Marie Josephe, daughter-in-law of Louis XV)","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Provenance: Alberto di Castro, Rome, 1976.\n\nHistorical significance: Although the exact purpose of this house altar is not recorded, it was probably made as a royal present in Rome. The angels on the top recall Gian Lorenzo Bernini's angels on the altar of the Cappella del SS.Sacramento in the Vatican. Two holes bored in the upper edge of the half dome indicate that the angels originally supported a coat-of-arms or a cartouche.","historicalContext":"The crown surmounting the initials on the door panel appears to be French since it has the Bourbon fleurs-de-lys around it.","briefDescription":"House altar of alabaster, amethyst, marble, silver-gilt, wood, tortoiseshell. Rome, ca.1750.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Massinelli, Anna Maria with contributions by Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel. <u>Hardstones: The Gilbert Collection</u>. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000. 329 p., ill. Cat. no. 48, pp. 132-133. ISBN 0856675105."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar. <u>The Art of Mosaics</u>. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1977. 143 p., ill. Cat. no. 15. ISBN 0875870805."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar and Steffi Röttgen with essays by Steffi Röttgen, Claudia Przyborowski; essays and new catalogue material translated by Alla Theodora Hall. <u>The Art of Mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection</u>. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1982, 224 p., ill. Cat. no. 15. ISBN 0875871097"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"putti","id":"AAT250465"},{"text":"angels","id":"x30526"},{"text":"acanthus","id":"AAT164902"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"worship","id":"AAT56005"},{"text":"religion","id":"x37580"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"3. House altar\r\nAbout 1750\r\n\r\nThis altar bears the initials of Marie Josephe (1731–67), daughter-in-law of King Louis XV of France. Its scrolls and curves evoke the Baroque style that became popular a century earlier. In contrast, the combination of gilded figures and precious amethyst is comparable to the clock (5) made for Napoleon Bonaparte half a century later.\r\n\r\nRome, Italy\r\nAlabaster, amethyst, marble, gilded silver, wood and turtleshell\r\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.17-2008","date":{"text":"16/11/2016","earliest":"2016-11-16","latest":"2016-11-16"}},{"text":"House altar\r\nAbout 1750\r\n\r\nThe precious materials are typical of mid-18th-century Roman mosaics. The angels are modelled on sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). The altar - used for devotions in a private chapel or by travelling members of the aristocracy - was probably a royal gift for Marie Josephe (1731-67) daughter-in-law of Louis XV of France. Her initials appear beneath the royal crown.\r\n\r\nRome, Italy\r\nAlabaster, amethyst, marble, gilded silver, wood and tortoiseshell.\r\nMuseum no.Loan:Gilbert.17-2008","date":{"text":"2009","earliest":"2009-01-01","latest":"2009-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.17-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"17","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Exhibition number","id":"THES288584"},"number":"15 (Monumental Silver and the Art of Mosaics exhibition 1977)"},{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"TU 89"},{"type":{"text":"The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House","id":"THES50384"},"number":"1999.57"},{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"SG 311"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2018LC0157","2019LP7251","2019LV1971","2019LW5043"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-01","recordCreationDate":"2008-06-19","availableToBook":false}}