V&A beats Met to acquire medieval ivory sculpture of Christ for £2m

The purchase was completed after the Romanesque carving, labelled Deposition from the Cross and dating from 1190 to 1200, was subject to an export licence deferral by the UK authorities last November. This gave the V&A the chance to match the cost. The export examining board, which advises the federal government, had explained the sculpture as “among the most culturally and aesthetically considerable objects” that it had handled in the previous five years.

Made from walrus ivory, the 18cm-high Deposition was possibly component of a big toned altarpiece of the Interest (the fatality of Christ). Another smaller sized fragment, portraying Judas at the Last Dinner, is already at the V&A, having been contributed in 1949.

Absolutely nothing is recognized of the Deposition’s pre-20th century provenance. The sculpture was obtained, perhaps in the 1930s, by John and Gertrude Hunt, that were London-based antiquarian collectors and dealerships. It got on lasting loan to the V&An until 2022, when it was withdrawn by their successors to offer. The provisional sale to the Met was worked out privately by Sotheby’s, however that was dependent on an export licence being granted.

London’s Victoria and Albert Gallery (V&A) has actually outmanoeuvred New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to buy a medieval ivory sculpture showing Christ being brought down from the cross. It paid simply over ₤ 2m for the work, which amounts the $2.5 m that had actually been offered by the Met.

The V&An efficiently raised the cash, assisted with a ₤ 700,000 grant from the government-backed National Heritage Memorial Fund and ₤ 350,000 from the Art Fund, a UK charity that assists with gallery purchases. Support was also offered by the Headley Trust (developed by Timothy Sainsbury of the Sainsbury family members), while the museum additionally made use of money from its own resources.