{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O88297"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O88297/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CA7138/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CA7138/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CA7138","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CA7137","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AF0003","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CP3550","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KV7702","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LA0211","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O88297/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O88297","accessionNumber":"259-1867","objectType":"Plaque","titles":[{"title":"The Ascension","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This is an ivory plaque made in Cologne in about 1180 representing the Ascension of Christ.\nIvory was used all over Europe for religious works of art. It was often combined with precious metals and usually took the form of relief panels, for book covers, portable altars and caskets. An almost unbroken tradition of ivory carving extends from the Roman and Byzantine empires until the end of the 14th century. From about 1250, Paris became the centre of production for figures and reliefs intended for private devotion.\nIt was said that the present plaque and another of the Nativity once formed part of the Cologne tabernacle, formerly called the Eltenberg reliquary (7650-1861). It was removed in about 1840 and was replaced in about 1855 with the relief of the journey of the three Magi by Geoffrey Dechaulme which is based on the late-twelfth century relief on the tabernacle in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin. But this attribution has to be used with caution. ","physicalDescription":"Christ is represented with a cruciform nimbus and standing on clouds holding the Banner of the Resurrection, surrounded by stars (12) and the Sun (with the letter V incised) and Moon; below is a group of seven apostles, the figures carved on a smaller scale, flanked by two angels, who stand on flat stones\r\nThe head of the angel on the left has been replaced by a modern copy, now removed, and portions are broken away at the top and bottom. The ivory was set in a wood cover of a mid-12th century manuscript probably executed at St Maurice en Valois in Switzerland when it was acquired in 1867. It was removed from the cover in 1980.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"}],"techniques":[{"text":"high relief","id":"AAT53626"},{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Walrus ivory carved in high relief","categories":[{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Plaques & Plaquettes","id":"THES49031"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2009CA7138","2009CA7137","2006AF0003","2009CP3550","2018KV7702","2018LA0211"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"8 (VA)","id":"THES49714"},"free":"","case":"CA4","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"TCRPS (VA)","id":"THES49504"},"free":"","case":"C1","shelf":"1","box":"2"},{"current":{"text":"TCRPS (VA)","id":"THES49504"},"free":"","case":"C1","shelf":"1","box":"2"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Plaque","id":""}],[{"text":"Panel","id":""}],[{"text":"Fragment","id":""}],[{"text":"Fragment","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Cologne","id":"x28796"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1180","earliest":"1175-01-01","latest":"1184-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"7650-1861","id":"O81507"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"12.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"6.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'VITVL[VS]'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'ox (the symbol of St Luke)'","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Carved on the reverse"}],"objectHistory":"Formerly Webb collection. Purchased 1867.\n\nHistorical significance: see 7650-1861","historicalContext":"The present ivory once formed part of the Cologne tabernacle, formerly called the Eltenberg reliquary (7650-1861). It was removed in about 1840 and was replaced in about 1855 with the relief of the journey of the three Magi by Geoffrey Dechaulme which is based on the late-twelfth century relief on the tabernacle in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin.","briefDescription":"Plaque, walrus ivory, formerly part of a tabernacle, The Ascension, made Lower Rhine (Cologne), ca. 1180","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Longhurst, Margaret H. <font -u>Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory.</font> London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927, Part I, p. 78, pl. LX"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1867. <font -u>Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1.</font> London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 10"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Williamson, Paul. <u>Medieval Ivory Carvings. Early Christian to Romanesque</u>. London, V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2010, pp. 304-7, cat.no. 78"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Jesus Christ","id":"N2525"},{"text":"The Apostles","id":"N1452"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"The Ascension","id":"V112"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"suns","id":"x31103"},{"text":"moon","id":"x30118"},{"text":"angels","id":"x30526"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["259:1-1867","259:3-1867","259:2-1867"],"accessionNumberNum":"259","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1867,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Plaque","Fragment [1]","Fragment [2]"],"assets":["2019LU0511","2019LX0299","2019LV8455"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-07","recordCreationDate":"2003-12-29","availableToBook":false}}