Wing of a Tabernacle Polyptych

This ivory panel, a wing of a tabernacle polyptych, is divided into three compartments and shows scenes of the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi. It was made in England in about 1240-50. The style of the figures is unusual and finds a distinct parallel in the figure on the West front of Wells Cathedral. Although now only a fragment from a larger ensemble, the wing provides important evidence for non-French production in the early years of Gothic ivory carving. It is contemporary with the first products of the so-called 'Soissons group' and the earliest Virgin and Child statuettes, and thus considerably predates the main body of French ivory tabernacles which appear mostly to date from the years 1270-1320.