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The Adoration of the Magi Limoges Painted enamel Rectangular, slightly convex copper plaque, enamelled en grisaille on a translucent brown ground, and gilded. The reverse has clear counter-enamel, but much of it is covered by a black substance The Virgin is seated on the left holding the Christ Child on her knee. St Joseph stands to the left in profile, and an aged King with a long beard kneels in front of the Child and holds His left foot in his hand. The other two kings holding cups in their right hands stand in front of a column in the middle. One faces the front, and doffs his hat. The other, a richly-dressed negro, has his back towards the viewer. Further to the right a retainer stands beside a horse, Behind it is another horse ridden by a man with a shield and a banner, and a third man stands gazing back towards a star with a streaming tail in the sky on the left. Below it is a castle, and another is on a hill rising up behind the retainers and horses. In the foreground to left there is a fragment of broken column, and to right a small heap of stones and a low wall Gilding is used sparingly for the halos of the Holy Family, a chain round the neck of the man doffing his hat, the star, and the lower end of a staff or sword scabbard at centre. In a gilt-metal rectangular moulded frame with a rosette in the middle of each side, and a stud in each corner Limoges, France C.1840-80
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