March Auction
Lot 141:
Russian Hand-Painted Devotional Icon Egg Depicting the Mandylion, Antique, Cyrillic Inscription
Description
Russian School
Antique Devotional Egg Depicting the Mandylion (Holy Face of Christ)
Hand-painted wooden devotional egg depicting the Holy Face of Christ (Mandylion) rendered in the Orthodox iconographic tradition. The frontal visage is set against a metallic foil ground, framed by a cruciform halo and executed in warm ochre and earth tones consistent with Imperial Russian devotional production.
The reverse features a foil cross motif on a black ground surrounded by dotted ornamentation. Beneath the cross appears a hand-painted Cyrillic inscription or Signature to the lower register.
The egg is of turned wood construction with visible lathe lines and age-consistent varnish craquelure. Presented on a later wooden stand.
Details
Origin: Russian
Subject: Mandylion (Holy Face of Christ)
Medium: Hand-painted wood with metallic foil
Inscription: Cyrillic, to reverse
Form: Devotional egg
Size: 4.25 inches high, stand is an additional 1.25 inches
Condition: Craquelure, surface wear, minor paint losses; later base
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