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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Post Medieval Glass Fragment Group
Circa 16th-17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
Comprising vessel fragments decorated with appliqués together with plain glass fragments of different colours. 1.6 kg total, 30-92 mm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Egyptian Style Bronze Seated Cat
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Modelled in the round with semi-naturalistic anatomical detailing, tail wrapped around one side of the body; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 598 grams total, 17.9 cm (including base)
Ex French collection, acquired prior to 1980. -
Richard Keel Signed Cover
1980 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Royal Mail illustrated First Day cover bearing set of six James Bond stamps, franked 8 January 2008 and signed by Richard Keel (who played Jaws in the films). 8.4 grams, 21.8 x 11.5 cm
Acquired from Benham Collectibles Ltd, UK, 2014. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. Accompanied by copy of the purchase invoice. -
Georgian Toy Bronze Pistol, Ring and Key Group
Circa 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1
The gun formed in the round with simple detailing; ring engraved with band of stylised flowerheads and X-motifs, remains of enamelling. 14.9 grams total, 21-37 mm
Found Wiltshire, UK. -
WWII Gas Mask Group
1940s A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Comprising two masks accompanied by a fabric bag, one mask with connecting pipe and respirator. 2.1 kg total, bag 30 cm high
Acquired from RJ Militaria, UK. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. -
Copper-Alloy Artefact Group
20th century A.D. and earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £7
Comprising bells; cleavers; horse bits; knives; gaming pieces; silver-coloured bangle; decorative chape; tokens; jewellery items and other miscellaneous objects. 1.85 kg total, 1-19 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Post Medieval Blue and White Glazed Ceramic Delft Dish
18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Displaying figures in landscape settings; footed base; tin glaze. 466 grams, 22 cm wide
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister. -
Post Medieval 'Thames' Glass Poison Bottle Group
16th-17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Comprising two glass bottles: one with a rounded cuboid-shaped body, slender neck, everted rim and remains of iridescent surfaces; one cylindrical bottle with short neck and broad everted rim. 58 grams total, 41-58 mm
Found Thames foreshore spoil, 1980s. -
Bactrian Style Lapis Lazuli Bead Necklace String
20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Mainly composed of tubular and oval-shaped beads, interspersed with smaller spacer beads; restrung. 32.8 grams, 52 cm long
Ex North London, UK, collection. Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, gallery. -
Russian Painted Wooden Icon of Virgin and Child
Circa 1800 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
In polychrome within a shallow rectangular recess, framed by a red border; both figures shown nimbate, baby Jesus wearing a red chiton and embracing his mother; loop for suspension to reverse. 1.26 kg, 33.5 cm
The background is exposed so that the chalk ground is visible
Ex French gallery, Paris. Accompanied by an old typed and signed letter from the Icon Museum at Autenried Castle near Günzburg.
The icon shows the Mother of God of Fedorovskaya type, one of the variants of the Hodegetria icons. It is a central Russian work from the first half of 19th century A.D. The Fedorovskaya icon of the Mother of God or Virgin of Kostroma is honoured by the Orthodox church as a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. It is kept in the city of Kostroma, in the Cathedral of Epiphany-Anastasia. Legend attributes its creation to Saint Luke the Evangelist. Its iconography is similar to that of Our Lady of Vladimir. She is also revered as one of the icons of the Romanov house linked to the election in 1613 of the founder of the dynasty Michael Romanov who lived his youth in Kostroma. -
Tudor Period Silver Filigree Mount
Circa 16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Composed of a domed face adorned with graduated granules and large apex granule encircled by filigree collars, lozenge petals and filigree spirals. 3.12 grams, 23 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Copper-Alloy Artefact and Ceramic Tile Group
20th century A.D. and earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £13
Comprising complete and fragmentary items including: Dutch glazed tiles; a Bronze Age dagger blade; buckles, figures, thimbles, coins, seals, chapes, furniture and other fittings; together with other miscellaneous items. 5.9 kg total, 1-15 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.