Auction Highlights
-
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.
-
Ancient Greek Coins - Macedonia - Shield AR Tetradrachm 167-149 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
Amphipolis, First Meris. Obv: diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver behind shoulder, all at the centre of a Macedonian shield decorated with dots between stars in crescents. Rev: MAKEDONWN PRWTHS legend with club to right, AR monogram above all within oak wreath, thunderbolt in outer left field. 16.98 grams.
Near extremely fine.
Property of a North London gentleman. -
Ancient Greek Coins - Macedonia - Amphipolis - Shield AR Tetradrachm 158-150 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £293
Obv: diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver behind shoulder, all at the centre of a Macedonian shield decorated with three dots between stars in crescents. Rev: MAKEDONWN PRWTHS legend club to right, DYSHR monogram above, TKR monogram in lower left field, TYRE monogram in lower right field, all within oak wreath, thunderbolt in outer left field. 14.66 grams.
Very fine; obverse with adhesions.
Acquired on the German art market around 2000. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Ancient Greek Coins - Macedonia - Amphipolis - Shield AR Tetradrachm 158-149 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £293
Obv: diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver behind shoulder, all at the centre of a Macedonian shield decorated with three dots between stars in crescents. Rev: MAKEDONWN PRWTHS legend with club to right, dot in A above, XAE monogram in lower left field, E in lower right field, all within oak wreath, thunderbolt in outer left field. 16.60 grams.
Very fine; toned.
Acquired on the German art market around 2000. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Ancient Greek Coins - Pamphylia - Aspendos - Triskeles AR Stater 460-420 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Obv: warrior or hoplite, helmetted, naked, walking right, holding spear in right hand, shield on left arm, turtle between his legs. Rev: EST above triskeles of human legs left rotating left, lion crouching left behind it. 10.88 grams.
Near very fine; banker cut to reverse edge. Unpublished obverse mark.
Ex UK private collection. -
Ancient Greek Coins - Seleucid - Tryphon Bronze 142-138 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Antioch mint. Obv: diademed head of Tryphon right. Rev: BASILEWS TRYFANOS AYTOKRATOROS to right and left of a Macedonian helmet left, adorned with ibex horn; star in lower left field. 4.23 grams.
Near extremely fine.
Property of a Harrow, UK gentleman. -
Ancient Roman Republican Coins - M Aemilius Scaurus / P Plautius Hypsaeus - Aretas AR Denarius 58 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Rome mint. Obv: Aretas of Nabataea kneeling right beside camel presenting olive-branch; M SCAVR above, EX - SC across fields and AED CVR in exergue. Rev: Jupiter in quadriga left brandishing thunderbolt; P HVPSAEVS AED CVR above, CAPTVM to right and C HVPSAE COS / PREIVER in two lines in exergue. 3.98 grams.
Extremely fine.
Ex UK private collection. -
Ancient Roman Republican Coins - Q Cassius Longinus - Eagle AR Denarius 55 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Rome mint. Obv: youthful male bust (Genius?) right with sceptre over shoulder. Rev: eagle standing right on thunderbolt with lituus left and jug right; Q CASSIVS below. 4.03 grams.
Good very fine; oval flan.
Ex UK private collection. -
Ancient Roman Republican Coins - P Fonteius P f Capito - Mars AR Denarius 55 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Rome mint. Obv: P FONTEIVS P F CAPITO III VIR legend with helmeted and draped bust of Mars right; trophy over shoulder. Rev: MN FONT TR MIL legend with MN and NT in monogram with horseman galloping right about to spear warrior below who is attacking a third unarmed combatant; helmet and shield below on ground to right. 3.55 grams.
Extremely fine.
Ex UK private collection. -
Ancient Roman Imperatorial Coins - Julius Caesar - Elephant AR Plated Denarius 49 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Obv: elephant right trampling dragon (or serpent); CAESAR in exergue. Rev: simpulum, sprinkler, axe and apex emblems. 3.40 grams.
Good fine.
Found Essex, UK. -
Ancient Roman Imperatorial Coins - Mark Antony and Octavia - AR Cistophorus Summer-Autumn 39 B.C.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Ephesus mint. Obv: M ANTONIVS IMP COS DESIG ITER ET TERT legend with jugate busts right of Antony and Octavia. Rev: III VIR R P C legend with Dionysus standing on cista mystica holding cantharus and thyrsus flanked by two snakes. 9.19 grams.
Near very fine, dark tone. Scarce.
Acquired on the London coin market. Property of a Wirral, Merseyside, UK, collector. -
Ancient Roman Imperial Coins - Augustus - Gaius and Lucius AR Denarius 2 B.C.-4 A.D.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Lugdunum mint. Obv: CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE legend with laureate bust right. C L CAESARES AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT legend in exergue and around with Gaius and Lucius standing facing with shields and spears between. 3.55 grams.
Very fine.
Acquired on the German art market around 2000. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Ancient Roman Imperial Coins - Tiberius - 'Tribute Penny' Denarius After 16 A.D.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Lugdunum mint. Obv: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG AVGVSTVS legend with laureate head right. Rev: PONTIF MAXIM legend with Livia, as Pax, seated right on throne, holding long sceptre and olive branch, chair legs ornamented, single line below. 3.44 grams.
Very fine.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
This is the coin type traditionally believed to have been shown to Jesus in the temple, referred to in the Christian new testament, and about which Jesus said 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's' (see Mark 12:17, Matthew 22:12 and Luke 20:25).