Bridle bit with the arms of Rasse van Gavere (de Gavre), lord of Eksaarde in France or Flanders, early 14th century. From the Philippe Missillier Collection, Giquello Study, Drouot - rooms 5-6, March 6 & 7, 2025.
Sold out
PHILIPPE MISSILLIER COLLECTION
HIGH ANTIQUITY – BOOKS – 17TH CENTURY FIREARMS
HUNTING ART – PHALERISTICS
18TH AND 19TH CENTURY WEAPONS – RUSSIAN ART
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 11 am to 12 pm
AFRICA AND OCEANIA – FAR EAST
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 2 pm
ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART
Drouot - rooms 5-6
EXHIBITION
Tuesday, March 4, from 11 am to 6 pm
Wednesday, March 5, from 11 am to 6 pm
Thursday, March 6, from 11 am to 12 pm
Phone during the exhibition +33 (0)1 48 00 20 05
GIQUELLO
Alexandre Giquello
Violette Stcherbatcheff
5, rue La Boétie - 75008 Paris
+33 (0)1 47 42 78 01 - info@giquello.net
Subject to approval
No. 2002 389
CONTACT
Claire Richon
+33(0)1 47 70 48 00
c.richon@giquello.net
SPECIALIST
Marina Viallon
+33 (0)6 72 42 57 24
marina.viallon@yahoo.fr
Lot no. 18 (from the sale)
Horse bit with the arms of Rasse van Gavere (of Gavre), lord of Eksaarde
France or Flanders, early 14th century
H. 21 cm
563 CH
€55,000/€75,000
Provenance:
- Belgian collection; Sotheby's London sale, April 20, 1989, no. 4
Bibliography:
- Jean-Marie Van der Eeckhout, "Le rôle d'armes Dupuy: un armorial de chevaliers flamands du début du XIVe siècle," Le Parchemin,
77th year, no. 397, Jan-Feb. 2012.
- Marina Viallon, "New Research on an Important Fourteenth-Century Enameled Horse Bit from the Angevin Court of Naples,"
The Metropolitan museum Journal, v. 54, 2019.
Gilded bronze branches, with a straight shank pierced with a suspension eye, adorned with a hatched molding and at the bottom a small chiseled dragon.
Two gilded iron rings with large conical heads, held between the two shanks the double iron mouthpiece now missing. D-shaped extensions with a splint at the back, to which is riveted a large copper medallion with champlevé enamel decoration. It depicts a shield with the arms of a branch of the Van Gavere/de Gavre family (gules three lions passant gardant in pale or a label azure), surrounded by three dragons against a blue background. Lower part of the straight branches, adorned with engraved and punched geometric motifs, connected by conical headed pins with a thick link chain spacer of two links. At the ends, two other conical headed pins held the rein rings.
The armorial role Dupuy (BnF, Fonds Dupuy n°259), a roll of arms dating around 1470 but a copy of the Urfé armorial produced around 1380, listing the coats of arms of Flemish knights living in the early 14th century, lists these arms as belonging to Rasse van Gavere, known as Mulaert. While his dates of birth and death are unknown, it is known that he succeeded his father Jean I as lord of Eskaarde in 1291, and was captured in France in 1300. He is then mentioned in 1302 in the accounts of the city of Bruges and reportedly served as alderman of Lokeren in 1309.
At the end of the 13th and in the 14th century, bits entirely made of gilded bronze or copper, with enameled decoration, were luxury pieces generally reserved for leisure or ceremonial riding, due to the relative fragility of their material compared to the iron that made up the majority of medieval bits. They complemented the rich harnesses adorned with pendants and other enameled plaques, often heraldic, particularly in vogue in Europe at that time. Luxury bits from the 14th century are extremely rare today, with only a handful of known examples, like the large Neapolitan examples, of a slightly different type, preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (04.3.478a,b) and at the Armeria Reale in Turin (D.58). The only other known ornate bit matching the type presented here is found in the collections of the Cluny Museum (CL.11461).
Good condition, worn gilding, missing mouthpiece.
HIGH ANTIQUITY – BOOKS – 17TH CENTURY FIREARMS
HUNTING ART – PHALERISTICS
18TH AND 19TH CENTURY WEAPONS – RUSSIAN ART
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 11 am to 12 pm
AFRICA AND OCEANIA – FAR EAST
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 2 pm
ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART
Drouot - rooms 5-6
EXHIBITION
Tuesday, March 4, from 11 am to 6 pm
Wednesday, March 5, from 11 am to 6 pm
Thursday, March 6, from 11 am to 12 pm
Phone during the exhibition +33 (0)1 48 00 20 05
GIQUELLO
Alexandre Giquello
Violette Stcherbatcheff
5, rue La Boétie - 75008 Paris
+33 (0)1 47 42 78 01 - info@giquello.net
Subject to approval
No. 2002 389
CONTACT
Claire Richon
+33(0)1 47 70 48 00
c.richon@giquello.net
SPECIALIST
Marina Viallon
+33 (0)6 72 42 57 24
marina.viallon@yahoo.fr
Lot no. 18 (from the sale)
Horse bit with the arms of Rasse van Gavere (of Gavre), lord of Eksaarde
France or Flanders, early 14th century
H. 21 cm
563 CH
€55,000/€75,000
Provenance:
- Belgian collection; Sotheby's London sale, April 20, 1989, no. 4
Bibliography:
- Jean-Marie Van der Eeckhout, "Le rôle d'armes Dupuy: un armorial de chevaliers flamands du début du XIVe siècle," Le Parchemin,
77th year, no. 397, Jan-Feb. 2012.
- Marina Viallon, "New Research on an Important Fourteenth-Century Enameled Horse Bit from the Angevin Court of Naples,"
The Metropolitan museum Journal, v. 54, 2019.
Gilded bronze branches, with a straight shank pierced with a suspension eye, adorned with a hatched molding and at the bottom a small chiseled dragon.
Two gilded iron rings with large conical heads, held between the two shanks the double iron mouthpiece now missing. D-shaped extensions with a splint at the back, to which is riveted a large copper medallion with champlevé enamel decoration. It depicts a shield with the arms of a branch of the Van Gavere/de Gavre family (gules three lions passant gardant in pale or a label azure), surrounded by three dragons against a blue background. Lower part of the straight branches, adorned with engraved and punched geometric motifs, connected by conical headed pins with a thick link chain spacer of two links. At the ends, two other conical headed pins held the rein rings.
The armorial role Dupuy (BnF, Fonds Dupuy n°259), a roll of arms dating around 1470 but a copy of the Urfé armorial produced around 1380, listing the coats of arms of Flemish knights living in the early 14th century, lists these arms as belonging to Rasse van Gavere, known as Mulaert. While his dates of birth and death are unknown, it is known that he succeeded his father Jean I as lord of Eskaarde in 1291, and was captured in France in 1300. He is then mentioned in 1302 in the accounts of the city of Bruges and reportedly served as alderman of Lokeren in 1309.
At the end of the 13th and in the 14th century, bits entirely made of gilded bronze or copper, with enameled decoration, were luxury pieces generally reserved for leisure or ceremonial riding, due to the relative fragility of their material compared to the iron that made up the majority of medieval bits. They complemented the rich harnesses adorned with pendants and other enameled plaques, often heraldic, particularly in vogue in Europe at that time. Luxury bits from the 14th century are extremely rare today, with only a handful of known examples, like the large Neapolitan examples, of a slightly different type, preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (04.3.478a,b) and at the Armeria Reale in Turin (D.58). The only other known ornate bit matching the type presented here is found in the collections of the Cluny Museum (CL.11461).
Good condition, worn gilding, missing mouthpiece.
Reference :
Étude Giquello, Drouot - salles 5-6, les 6 & 7 mars 2025
Next update Friday, april 4th at 1:30 PM
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bertrand.malvaux@wanadoo.fr 06 07 75 74 63
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