A marble bust of Emperor Constantine with the hair formed as large lank curls; narrow face with large almond-shaped eyes and broad mouth; face reworked from an earlier late medieval head; mounted on a custom-made stand. 6.3 kg total, 30 cm high including stand

French collection, 1960s-early 2000s.
From an important Paris gallery, France.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11660-199347.

A stylised lion's face and mane carved in relief in stone; likely part of a frieze; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 23.2 kg total, 30 cm high including stand

with Hotel Des Ventes De Monte, Monaco, 14 December 2021, lot 13.
English private collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11661-199833.

A square-section sandstone font with carinated sidewall, carved with arcading around the upper body, non-identical fleurs and plant forms to the centre of the side faces and to one of four chamfered corners; channels to three of the four corners of the upper face; circular drainage hole to interior base. 30.4 kg, 30 x 30 cm

English private collection, 1980s.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11662-199832.

An icon from a possible triptych of Veneto-Cretan School depicting nimbate Saint Francis of Assisi, wearing the brown habit of the Franciscan order, fitted with a hood, facing towards the right, a red book in his left hand with the inscription Vera S. Francisci effigies(true portrait of Saint Francis); mounted in a perspex display frame. 152 grams, 20 cm high

Property of a London lady, part of her family's collection.

Cf. Lymberopoulou, A., 'The Fogg Triptych: Testimony of a case study to the society and artistic production of Venetian Crete' in Lymberopoulou, A. (ed.), Cross-cultural interaction between Byzantium and the West, 1204-1669. Whose Mediterranean is it anyway? Society for the promotion of Byzantine Studies, Routledge, London, pp.59-73, fig.4.1.

With the conquest of Crete by the Venetians, Latin saints were introduced to Byzantine iconography. Saint Francis was one of the most beloved Latin saints among the Cretan faithful, depicted in the iconography of Cretan Orthodox churches, including the Panaghia Kera of Kritsa (13th-14th century A.D.). This figure was probably part of a triptych, having at the centre the image of the Mother of God with the Child, or a Desis. The placement of Francis in this icon would suggests the owner’s strong affiliation with the Franciscan order, which had a strong presence on Crete from the 13th century onwards. It was believed that Saint Francis himself stopped on the island on his way to the Holy Land in 1219.

A rectangular wooden icon of Pope Benedict XI (papacy: 22 October 1303-7 July 1304) standing facing within an arch; elaborate crozier to the left hand with returned horse-head finial and scrolled spurs to the outer edge; right hand extended in the gesture of benediction with large gem-set finger ring carefully displayed; mitre with jewelled headband, simple red vestment with white undergarment and black trim; heavily overpainted; mounted in a gilt wooden frame with hatched lower panel. 1.6 kg, 50.5 x 37.5 cm

Ex Richard Philp, London, UK.
with W.E. Tristram (1882-1952).
Acquired from Patrick Reijgerberg, Holland March, 2003.
UK private collection.

An exquisite tempera with gold ground on wood icon depicting Mary surrounded by saints and holding the Divine Child in her arms; Mary seated on an elaborate throne and crowned as the Queen of the Universe with two angels supporting her crown, Greek inscription 'MP' and 'ΘΥ' for Mother of God to each side of the crown, wearing a scarlet red maphorion embroidered with gold and a long dark blue tunica talaris; Jesus dressed in a linen tunic and a yellow cloak, affectionately gazing up and making the sign of blessing with his right hand; four saints flanking the throne, three of whom dressed in Bishop's attire, far left Saint Basil with his name written in Greek, and the others possibly saints Elias, Nicholas and Gregorius Nazianzus; the lower part of the icon with Saint George on horseback killing the dragon and Saint Demetrius on horseback killing the king of Avars, both saints dressed in pseudo-Roman armour and armed with a spear. 2.4 kg, 44 x 35 cm

Property of a London lady, part of her family's collection.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11570-198597.

Cf. Vassilaki, Images of the Mother of God, London-New York, 2016, fig.25.7, p.318, for similar icons; Tourta, A. (ed.), Icons from the Orthodox Communities of Albania, Thessaloniki, 2006, p.130.

The representation of the icon is centred on the image of the Mother of God as ‘The Sovereign’ (Vasilissa, Queen of the Universe). Here, Mary assumes the function of the protector of the believers, reinforced by the presence of the angels. Due to her earthly origin, Mary always maintained an intermediary position in the heavenly realms, becoming an indispensable intercessor on behalf of humans before the Lord. The protection offered by her is reinforced by the presence of the two major protectors of the humans against evil: Saint George and Saint Demetrius.

A tempera on wood icon depicting the Mother of God supporting the Child with her left forearm, his right hand raised and making the sign of blessing, left hand holding a scroll; the Virgin wearing a red maphorion with a light green veil and a blue chiton; both figures nimbate, the haloes tooled with foliate designs, gilt background with a red and white arch above. 520 grams, 27.5 x 21.5 cmThe lighter areas of the flesh further highlighted with fine white brushstrokes. The gilding of the background lost, minor losses, minimally restored

Property of a London lady, part of her family's collection.

See similar icon in the Princeton Art Museum, inventory number y1945-196, icon by an imitator of Emmanuel Lampardos, published in Princeton University Art Museum, Recent Accessions, record of the Museum of Historic Art, vol.4. no.2 (Autumn, 1945), pp.11-12.

The layout of the composition clearly indicates the icon's close link with Hodegetria type, the most typical iconography of the Mother of God in Byzantium since the 10th century. However, the type also recalls the iconography of the Virgin Psychosostria, i.e. 'Health of Souls'.

A wooden painted icon of Saint Eleutherios with a repoussé silver oklad that covers all but the face, embossed in rich priestly robes, representing the priest's omophorion decorated with crosses, over an embroidered robe or sticharion, the nimbus gilded and embossed with foliage and rays over a silver background, Greek inscription 'O AΓΙΟΣ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΟΣ' (Saint Eleutherios) to the sides. 1.9 kg, 37.5 x 28.7 cm

Property of a London lady, part of her family's collection.

Cf. similar icon (style and face) of Nikolaos Kallergis (18th century), in Byzantine Museum of Zakynthos; for the iconography of Saint Eleftherios Charalambos D. Vasilopolou, Αγιος Ελευθεριος (Saint Eleftherios, in Greek), Livani, 2019.

As bishop in Illyricum, Eleutherios promoted the cause of at a time when the persecutions not only made it difficult to win and hold converts, but also at a time when the gravest danger was in being a high-ranking prelate of the Church. Oblivious to this threat, he was acclaimed in the inner circle of Christianity as the brightest luminary of Christian Rome since the apostles. His immense popularity grew and thereby became more dangerous to the state. He was finally brought to the attention of Emperor Hadrian, who ordered his arrest, and then cast into prison, tortured, and put to death on December 15th.

An icon of Hodegetria with the Virgin wearing a red maphorion embroidered with gold, a dark veil and a dark chiton with double gold embroidery on the cuffs; holding the Child on her left arm and gesturing towards him with the right hand; the Child wearing a yellow brown, gold-woven chiton, holding a scroll in his left hand, while the right one is making the gesture of blessing; the angels Michael and Gabriel to the left and right of the Virgin; on each side of the head of the Virgin inscriptions 'ΜΡ' and 'ΘΥ' (Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ = Mother of God), inscription in Greek letters 'IC XC' (IHCOYC XPICTOC = Jesus Christ) above the child, three letters inside the nimbus of Christ representing the continuous divine self-existence of Christ as God ('O ѾN' = The Only One who always exists); the names of the angles inscribed next to each figure (Aghios Michail and Aghios Gavriil). 869 grams, 29.8 x 24 cm

Property of a London lady, part of her family's collection.

Cf. Lidov, A., 'The flying Hodegetria the miraculous icon as bearer of sacred space' in Thunø, E., Wolf, G. (eds.), The miraculous image in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Papers from a conference held at the Accademia di Danimarca in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte), Rome, 31 May - 2 June 2003, Rome 2004, pp. 273-304 (Analecta Romana Instituti Danici : Supplementum ; 35), fig.10, for a photo of the original icon.

The painting is a copy of the famous replica of the Hodegetria of Constantinople, a Byzantine icon of 14th century, repainted by the icon painter Dionisi in 1482, and today preserved in State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. The original icon was destroyed by the Turks at the capture of Constantinople in 1453. The replica was venerated as an 'original' real Hodegetria in the Ascension Convent in Kremlin, Moscow. The icon led the liturgical processions on June 23, August 26, May 21 and October 22 in which the Patriarchs and the Russian Tsars took part.

A wooden triptych with recessed central panel and two folding doors; the central panel with crucifixion scene with robed Mary and John the Evangelist, another apostle and Mary Magdalen, two crucified thieves to the rear and the angels depicted collecting the blood of God in cups; underneath the Crucifixion scene Virgin Mary and the Child escorted by armed Saint Gabriel and Saint Michael, prophets to the sides; the left door with nude Adam and Eve reaching up to the Resurrection of Christ, beneath them three prophets; the right door with two saints (upper panel) and three prophets; left and right bottom panels with Saint George (Bet Giorgis) and military Saint Victor on horseback; Ethiopian Ge'ez script legends. 760 grams, 35.5 x 21.5 cm

Acquired on the London art market, 2003.
UK private collection.

See Chojnacki, S., Major Themes in Ethiopian Painting, indigenous developments, the influence of foreign models and their adaptation, from the 13th to the 19th century, Wiesbaden, 1983, pp.172ff, fig.162, for a similar triptych.

The icon shows the Western influence on Ethiopian art. The first element is the orb which the Child holds in his left hand and the second element is the pose of his right hand. The orb appeared in Ethiopian paintings around 1500 A.D. Moreover, his hand shows two fingers outstretched, the index and middle finger, and the two last fingers folded.

A large gold posy ring with D-section hoop and inscribed internally 'No recompence but love' in lower case with 'ML' maker's punch. 3.08 grams, 20.33 mm overall, 18.20 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P 1/2, USA 7 3/4, Europe 16.86, Japan 16)

Acquired on the UK antiques market between 1974-1985.
Albert Ward collection, Essex, UK.

See Evans, J., English Posies and Posy Rings, London, 1931, p.84, for this inscription.

A large gold posy ring with D-section hoop, inscribed internally with 'Hearts vnited lives contented' lower case inscription with 'GM' maker's mark punch, possibly for the London goldsmith George Morris, recorded from a dated piece as working 1749-1750. 4.32 grams, 22.46 mm overall, 20.12 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)

Acquired on the UK antiques market between 1974-1985.
Albert Ward collection, Essex, UK.

See Evans, J., English Posies and Posy Rings, London, 1931, p.47, for similar examples.