Pre-Felton acquisitions included:
- Laudin, Jacques (attrib.). Plaque showing a soldier kneeling, c.1650. Purchased 1869. NGV 501-D1R [ill.]
- Laudin, Nicholas (attrib.). Plaque showing St John the Baptist, c.1650. Purchased 1869. NGV 502-D1R [ill.]: see photo at right
This pair of oval plaques in copper and enamel was made at Limoges around 1650. Each plaque is enclosed in a ceramic frame adorned by cherubs.
Jacques Laudin I (c.1627-95) and Nicholas Laudin I (1628-98) appear to be the artists identified in the inscriptions on the reverse of each plaque. Examples of their work are held at the V&A and elsewhere, and an enamelled betrothal purse, also attributed to Jacques Laudin, was acquired by the NGV in 2019.
Refs.
For the Laudins, see e.g. https://www.britannica.com/art/Limoges-painted-enamel#ref10822 (accessed 17 April 2020)
For the betrothal purse, a gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019, see https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/141340/ (with reproduction)