Auction Highlights
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Etruscan Painted Terracotta Architectural Cornice
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
A fragment of amorphous form, decorated in relief with scrolling tendrils and anthemion, painted egg-and-dart ornament above, surmounted by moulded bands and a frieze of meander and chequerboard panels; remains of red and black painted pigment. -
Roman Bronze Eros Cradling Goose Applique
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Formed as the bust of Eros looking upwards, stub wings to his shoulders, holding a goose to his chest; conical socket above each wing; eyes with silver inserts; old collector's label '1994 51.75' to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made stand; likely a socket base. -
Roman Silver-Gilt Military Buckle for an Elite Imperial Officer
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
Comprising a rectangular plate, richly decorated with embossed laurel leaves in a grid, framed with raised bosses, the buckle loop comprising opposing dragons with open mouths, holding a spherical tongue-rest, another pair of smaller dragon heads to base, the tongue with a smaller pair of punch-decorated dragon heads. -
South Arabian Bronze Bowl with Mythical Animals
Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,850
Hemispherical in form, repoussé interior displaying graduated concentric registers of stylised and mythical animals within tessellating cartouches; a low relief mesomphalos decorated with rosette at centre; geometric ornament around the rim. -
Assyrian Bronze Relief Fragment
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Displaying a corrugated rim above and below; two advancing soldiers, each striding forwards over the headless body of a dead enemy, carrying a severed head in each hand; the soldiers shown bearded and each wearing a pointed and segmented helmet with a recess to accommodate the ears, a cuirass and thigh-length tunic, with a bow over one shoulder and a sword slung from a waist belt; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Bronze Age Gold Bracelet with Torc-Shaped Terminals
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,440
Of penannular form with expanded sections at the centre and to both shoulders. -
'The Oving' Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Comprising a rectangular headplate with two panels of chip-carved Style I ornament, flanking a beast-head with triangular muzzle and two pellet eyes, raised three-sided frame and outer band of pellets above beast-heads with lentoid eyes; the shallow bow with raised median rib, flanges to the edges and punched pellet detailing; footplate with beast-head between curved pellet lines, pierced horse-head lappets, lozengiform central panel with knot of Style I limbs; two lateral discs, one pierced to accept a stud and the other with a domed stud in place; the finial a disc with human mask inverted; pin-lug and part of catch to the reverse. -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,900
Displaying chased panels populated with Style I zoomorphs and geometric forms, borders of annulets, raised masks to the upper corners of the headplate; applied discoid boss to bow decorated with a rosette, addorsed beast heads below; extensive remains of gilding; pin lug and catchplate to reverse and remains of ancient repair, lower part absent. -
'The Tenby' Hiberno-Norse Viking Penannular Brooch
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
Comprising a round-section crescent with flared ends terminating in two curved spatulate flat panels, each with a ropework border surrounding a two-band knotwork motif; cleaned and conserved. -
Medieval Oil Painting of Sorrowful Virgin
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
The weeping Virgin with her head bowed to the left and hands raised to her chest on a dotted gilt background, an expression of pain on her delicately formed face; wearing a white veil and a black long-sleeved robe, the veil arranged as a headdress and covering her hair; on wood and mounted in a later carved wooden architectural frame. -
Medieval Stained Glass Panel With Saint Martin on Horseback
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,080
Shown beneath an arcade, offering his cloak on the end of his sword to the beggar at his feet; polychrome detailing; repaired with lead cames and held in a wooden frame. -
Medieval Stained Glass Panel with The Virgin and Child
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
Composed from irregular painted panels bearing mainly foliage designs and figural elements; Mary crowned and enthroned with infant Jesus on her knee, in a lobed vesica-shaped panel held with lead cames; mounted in a wooden frame with modern replacements. -
Medieval Stone Column Capital with Lion and Human Face
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,950
Carved in the half-round with a frieze composed of interlaced foliage with two rows of acanthus leaves and foliage scrolls, framing a lion's head on one side and a human head on the other, remains of lion's mane to the third; drilled holes to the raised surfaces and sockets for the insertion of decorative stones. -
'The Kirkleavington' Medieval Bronze Inscribed Purse Frame
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
The bar with central D-shaped block pierced vertically by a stud surmounted by the suspension loop, with four pierced flanges to the underside; the frame in two sections, the larger a U-shaped rod with pivot for the bar, the smaller pivoting within the inner face, both pierced on the inner face; the block inscribed to one face with capital S and to the other with intersecting Vs; the bar inscribed to one face in capitals 'A DOMINI TECVM' and to the other in coarsely incised capitals 'AVEMARIA G[R]ACIAPLE[NA]'; the smaller rod inscribed in capitals 'CREATOREN CELI ET TERRE ET IN [IES]VN'; the larger inscribed with a band of scrolled decoration and the text in Lombardic capitals 'SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA'; the accompanying letter discusses the texts (1) Ave Maria G[r]acia ple[n]a Dominus Tecum 'Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord [is] with thee'; (2) Soli Deo Honor et Gloria 'Honour and glory to God alone'; (3) Creatorem celi et terrae et inferum 'creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus'. The intersecting Vs may form a monogram for A[ve] M[aria]; the 1847 letter describes the findspot as 'found at Kirkleavington near Yarm in the sill of a brook' in the North Riding of Yorkshire. -
'The Roxwell' Medieval Gold Signet Ring of 'King's Serjeant William Skrene'
Sold for (Inc. bp): £23,400
Gold hoop and discoid bezel with incuse ropework border; incuse image of a bird of prey perching with wings spread and head turned; blackletter incuse and reversed inscription in an arc above the bird's head and pinions '·al : for : ye : best ·' (all for the best); repair to hoop. -
Medieval Silver 'Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland' Royal Hawking Vervel
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,750
Or a leg ring inscribed '+Earle of Rutland' in derivative black letter script, for a female merlin or sparrow hawk (due to the youth of Edmund Plantagenet who died aged 17); the ring with a convex interior face. -
Post Medieval Gold Memento Mori Ring with Inscribed Posy 'In God Alone Wee Two Are One'
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,680
Displaying large flower heads, foliage and a skull to the outer face, enhanced with black enamelling; interior inscribed in a cursive script 'In god alone wee two are one', together with possible maker's stamps 'D' and 'F' in two rectangular cartouches. -
Heavy Post Medieval Gold 'Love Is The Bond Of Pease' Posy Ring
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
Composed of a gently carinated hoop, the interior inscribed in cursive script 'Love is the bond of pease'. -
Post Medieval Gold 'Live Life to the Full' Decorated Posy Ring
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
Composed of a decoratively notched hoop divided into chased rhomboidal panels displaying foliate tendrils and horizontal hatching alternately; the interior inscribed in Roman capitals with the Latin phrase: 'x x x x VIVE x VT x VIVAS'. -
English Milled Coins - George VI - 1937 - Cased RM Proof Coronation Gold Set [4]
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,700
Set comprising gold five pounds, two pounds, sovereign and half sovereign. Obvs: profile bust with GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP legends. Revs: St George and dragon; date in exergue; with original Royal Mint hinged red leatherette case of issue.
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Medieval Stained Glass Panel with City Gate
France, circa 1500 A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £208
With painted scene of an overseer with a scourge and team of harvesters outside a fortified city gate; lead cames forming a frame with two suspension rings, repaired. 148 grams, 16 cm
Cracked, repaired.
Private collection, Paris. -
Medieval Iron Anti-Cavalry Caltrop Group
13th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
A group of eight iron anti-cavalry caltrops, hand-forged with square-section spikes. 434 grams total, 90-94 mm
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector. -
Medieval Dutch Pewter Holy Blood Of Wilsnack Pilgrim's Badge
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Trilobate in plan with openwork triangle between three roundels with hatched fields, the upper two surmounted by crosses, depicting scenes from Christ's life: the crucifixion, resurrection and Christ at the Column in relief. 6.3 grams, 39 mm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
In 1383 AD, after fire in the town of Bad Wilsnack, Germany) three consecrated communion hosts were found undamaged in the ruins of the church. According to the legend, they were sprinkled with the Holy Blood of Christ, which made Bad Wilsnack a famous pilgrimage site. The resultant pilgrim badges were distinctive in shape with three circles arranged in a triangle and painted in red, referring to this miracle. Although the miracle was doubted by Reformation period scholars like John Hus, the final blow came in 1552, when the miraculous communion hosts were publicly burned. -
Medieval Iron Axehead
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Stamped to one face with work smith's mark, angled lower cheek edge and a sub-oval socket. 522 grams, 15.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The axe seems to be a Xa type in the Glosek classification. The earliest dated examples in Eastern Europe of this kind of axehead come from 14th century, but it is likely that this sub-type also goes back to the 13th century A.D. -
Medieval And Later Bronze Ring Collection
Circa 14th-20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Composed of rings of various sizes, dates and styles, including: plaited hoops; rolled gold; buckle designs; decoratively incised bezels; initialled bezels; together with other types. 62.8 grams total, 13-25 mm
Found Essex, UK. -
Medieval Pewter Pilgrim's Badge for Maria
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Displaying an openwork crowned blackletter 'M' with attachment or suspension loop below. 1.99 grams, 32 mm
European collection, 1990s. Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman. -
Medieval Pewter Pilgrim Badge of Saint Nicholas
Circa 1300 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
With facing image of St. Nicholas of Myra in orans pose with spiral-headed crook, Maltese cross motif, frieze of devotees below and arch canopy with enigmatic legend 'NMM[.] AVG[.] OK [..]MEA +'. 7.46 grams, 42 mm
From the Forgeais (1822-1878) collection, France, thence by family descent. with Gallery 51, 21 June 2013, lot 72. -
Medieval Iron Artefact Group
14th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Composed of tools, cleavers, harness elements, strap hinges, fittings, nails and other miscellaneous items. 8.4 kg total, 2.8-39 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Medieval Bronze Knight's 'Swinburn Family' Heraldic Horse Harness Pendant with Three Boar's Heads
13th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Heater shield-shaped with integral suspension loop to the upper edge; one face displaying a heraldic device composed of three boars' heads left with remaining traces of red enamel in the field. 16.2 grams, 45 mm
Found near Snargate, Kent, UK. Property of a Kent gentleman. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.KENT-56AC78, dating it to c.1280-1350 A.D.
The triple boar's head arms is associated with several members of the Swinburne (sometimes Swynbourne) family in the late 13th to early 14th century period. -
Medieval 'Thames' Pewter Spoon with Brass Knop
Circa 15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
Composed of a shallow piriform bowl and slender facetted stem, the knop in the shape of a fruit; RM maker's mark to the top of the bowl. 32 grams, 16.8 cm
Found Billingsgate spoil from the Thames foreshore, London, UK. -
Romanesque Bronze Lion Mount
11th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Depicted laying down with its chin resting between its forepaws, stylised detailing to the face, mouth, mane and tail; pierced through the tail for attachment; two pierced suspension lugs to reverse. 20 grams, 42 mm
Acquired early 2000s. Property of a Birmingham, UK, collector. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. -
Medieval 'Thames' Pewter Lion Retainer's Badge
15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Comprising a lion passant guardant wearing a crown, tongue protruding; remains of pin to reverse. 1.85 grams, 23 mm
Found Thames foreshore spoil, 1980s and recorded with Museum of London.
This form of badge was used by the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses.