Material: The figures: Ivory / Rock formation with pieces of blood coral
Origin: Trapani, Sicily
Date: Circa 1700
Dimensions: Height: 22,5 x 29,5 x 14 cm
The scene has derived from the story of the Nativity in the New Testament, as described in Matthew 2: 13-23, with Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt with the infant Christ, as they had been warned by an angel about the forthcoming Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem. The group consists of a rectangular base with a profiled plinth, veneered with tortoise shell, on six ivory feet. The hills are executed in cork and papier maché. The scene consist of Mary and Child on a donkey, Joseph in the left foreground, an angel on the left and right side, and a kneeling huntsman on the far right. They are arranged around a central palm tree with thirteen original leaves. The landscape is embelished with six original small pieces of red coral, all dating to the same period.
from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Trapani, on the northwestern coast of Sicily, was the epicenter in the trade of red coral, coralium rubrum, imported by local fishermen, which was widely used in artefacts. Jewish families from Magreb specialized in the processing of this intriguing material. Red coral was used in jewelry and also in gilt metal frames for mirrors, holy water basins, crucifixes and various other objects, many of which were included in collections of art and curiosities.
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