[MR] History Blog: 16th C. Prayer Nut Auctioned

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

"What is a prayer nut?" you ask. These were elaborately carved miniature
devotional items, probably attached to a rosaries, that enjoyed a brief
popularity in the 16th century.

The piece is a sphere of boxwood, barely 2" in diameter. It is hinged to
open, displaying two almost impossibly tiny scenes of Christ's passion
carved in relief. This particular example also has two wings attached to
one of the hemispheres, which like wing panels on an altar piece, have
additional images. Biblical verses were carved around the edges.

It defies the imagination how these tiny scenes could be carved with such
detail. It would have taken a master craftsman months, working with tools
similar to dental picks under a primitive magnifying glass. Maybe that's
why only 60 or so prayer nuts are known to exist. These likely were created
for high churchmen or extremely rich nobles.

The prayer nut in question sold on 5 July at auction by Sotheby's for a
whopping £604,000 ($726,000), about six times the expected price. The buyer
and seller are not named in the History Blog article, which suggests this
extremely rare item will remain in private hands.

The story is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/64534 .

Here is the detailed description from Sotheby's catalog:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/master-sculpture-from-four-millennia/polyptych-prayer-nut-with-the-crucifixion-and
. Note the thumbnails at left which are click links to large images. There
is also a brief scholarly article which follows the description.

An earlier History Blog article on these amazing devotional pieces was
posted at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/45284 .

More on this unusual art form is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_nut
.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆