The Liverpool ivories: Late antique and medieval ivory and bone carving in Liverpool Museum and the Walker Art Gallery

Abstract

The collection of late antique and medieval ivory and bone carvings surveyed in this catalogue and housed in the Liverpool Museum has an international reputation. In the United Kingdom it is surpassed only by collections in the British Museum and the V & A and its pieces are in constant demand for loan and publication. The last survey of the collection was published over 100 years ago and has long been unavailable. This book is both a practical catalogue and an assessment of each item from a historical as well as an art historical perspective. The introduction tells the story of how the core of the present collection was formed in the 1850s when the Liverpool antiquarian, Joseph Mayer, bought the ivories from an Hungarian collector and revolutionary-in-exile, Ferenc Pupszky, after the British Museum had refused them, probably on grounds of expense. The six sections of the catalogue are arranged chronologically and are followed by concordances and a section on losses and forgeries. 47 colour photographs illustrate the catalogued items, while over 50 black and white show objects of comparison and association drawn from a variety of sources. Taken as a whole, this book gives a balanced picture of a remarkable collection and of the development of the art of ivory and bone carving in Europe over 11 centuries.

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