Current Location: In storage
Titles
Book of Hours
Maker(s)
Artists:
Masters of the Beady Eyes
Entities
Categories
Description
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Parchment, i modern paper flyleaf + ii parchment flyleaves + 146 fols. + i parchment flyleaf + i modern paper flyleaf, 144 x 106 (99 x 68) mm, 19 long lines, ruled in black ink.
BINDING: 17th century, gold-tooled brown leather over wooden boards, sewn on 4 supports, metal clasp on lower cover, catchplate on upper cover, edges gilt and gauffered; re-sewn and repaired by Robert Proctor, Fitzwilliam Museum.
CONTENTS: fols. 1r – 6v Calendar; fols. 7v – 77r Prayers in Dutch (fols. 73v – 77r addition); fols. 79r – 83v Hours of the Cross, with prayer in Dutch on fol. 83v (addition); fols. 85r – 87v Hours of the Holy Spirit; fols. 89r – 117v Hours of the Virgin; fols. 119r – 125v Penitential Psalms; fols. 125v – 129v Litany with collects; fols. 131r – 139r Office of the Dead (fragmentary), with prayer in Dutch on fol. 139r – v (addition); fols. 140r – 143r family register.
DECORATION: Five full-page framed miniatures with full floral, acanthus and spraywork borders on plain parchment grounds at major text divisions:
fol. 78v Hours of the Cross, Crucifixion; fol. 84v Hours of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost; fol. 88v Hours of the Virgin, Annunciation; fol. 118v Penitential Psalms, Last Judgement with Virgin and St John interceding; fol. 130v Office of the Dead, Raising of Lazarus.
ORNAMENTATION: fols. 7v – 77r: Gold and black or blue and gold initials [4 – 7 ll.] with red pen-flourished floral infill on grounds of green wash and extensions including gold ornament, flowers and fruit (IHS monogram on fol. 44r); red or blue penwork initials [2 – 3 ll.] with reserved ornament and violet and red pen-flourished infill and extensions, often on grounds of green wash; alternate blue and red initials [1 – 2 ll.]; capitals highlighted in red.
fols. 1r – 6v, 79r – 139r: Blue or mauve white-patterned initials [8 ll.] with foliage infill on gold grounds and full floral, acanthus and spraywork borders facing and identical with those for the miniatures at major text divisions; gold initials [2 – 4 ll.] on pink and blue white-patterned grounds; alternate gold and blue one-line initials with black and red pen-flourishing; blue penwork line fillers with gold balls; capitals highlighted in red.
Notes
History note: Register of the Flemish Absoloens family for the period 1557 – 1650 (fols. 140r – 143r); Johanna Care, 1611 (added entry in Calendar, 6 Sept., fol. 5r); Joseph Smith, English Consul to Venice (1682 – 1770), bookplate on verso of first parchment flyleaf at front; Richard, seventh viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion (1745 – 1816), acquired in 1810; his bequest, 1816.
