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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Egyptian Faience Bead Mummy Face Mask
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Restrung; a netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with false beard, a scarab with extended wings below, the 'Four Sons of Horus’ beneath the scarab, joined together with areas of open netting of tubular beads. 67 grams, 24 cm high
Acquired 1990s. Ex Mariaud des Serres, Paris, France.
The 'Four Sons of Horus' protected the internal organs of the deceased. Depicted from left to right: the falcon-headed Qebhesenuef protected the intestines; human-headed Imsety, the liver; baboon-headed Hapi, the lungs; jackal-headed Duamutef, the stomach. -
Egyptian Feldspar Scarab with Hieroglyphs
Late New Kingdom, 1550-1069 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
With simple detailing; hieroglyphs to base reading 'praised by every god of the two lands'; drilled for suspension. 1.41 grams, 13 mm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1980s. -
Egyptian Mottled Stone Intaglio with Seated Isis and Horus
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Depicting a figural scene showing seated Isis with Horus; bevelled edge; repaired. 1.9 grams, 24 mm
Fine condition, repaired.
Acquired in the 1990s. Private German collection. Ex private Belgian collection. From the collection of G.M.R.H. -
Large Framed Coptic Wool Garment Fragment with Dancing Nymphs
Circa 6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Comprising a series of nude female figures on red background, probably maenads or nymphs, dancing to the sounds of cymbals held in their outstretched hands, each wearing a green proploma; wide band of geometric decoration above; mounted in a custom-made glazed frame. 2.1 kg total, 71 x 36 cm including frame
Ex Dutch collection, 1960s. UK collection 2018.
The band is probably the terminal part of a large wall carpet. The warp material is raw natural twisted wool in one strand, with weft in linen and raw wool in red, orange, ochre yellow, blue green, olive green, blue. The motif still echoes themes of the pagan world, despite being made in the Christian Roman Empire. -
Egyptian Faience Bead and Amulet Necklace
New Kingdom-Late Period, 1550-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Composed of polychrome glazed beads of tubular and annular types, together with pendant amulets including fly and fruit; restrung. 5.6 grams, 48 cm long
From the collection of a London gentleman, 1980s-1990s. -
Egyptian Faience Bead Necklace
New Kingdom, 1569-1081 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Composed of gently tapering biconical beads of various shades of turquoise and blue, interspersed with coin-shaped and spherical beads; restrung. 6.43 grams, 66 cm long
From an early 20th century UK collection. -
Large Egyptian Faience Cartouche Amulet for the Pharaoh Apries
26th Dynasty, 664-525 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Displaying Wahibre, the birth name of the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Apries on one face; his throne name, Haaibre (rendered 'Apries' in Hellenistic times) on the other; repaired. 7.7 grams, 41 mm
Fine condition, repaired.
Acquired 1980s-1990s. Private collection of H. N., Milton Keynes, Berkshire, UK.
This plaque was almost certainly once part of a foundation deposit of a temple built in the reign of this pharaoh. A similar, albeit slightly thicker, double-sided cartouche-shaped plaque of this king is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession number 02.4.105b). -
Egyptian Faience Amulet Group
New Kingdom, Amarna Period, 1353-1336 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Composed of polychrome amulets of various types, with suspension loops, including figures of deities and fruit, together with other examples. 1.05 grams total, 11-14 mm
From an early 20th century collection, Surrey, UK. -
Egyptian Faience Shabti Group
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Four blue-glazed mummiform shabtis with worn detail. 20 grams total, 41-52 mm
From the collection of H.N., Milton Keynes, 1980s-1990s. -
Egyptian Limestone Relief Fragment Group
Late Period, 664-332 B.C. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £221
Some with detailing, one with male face to left with eye and ear remaining. 2.78 kg total, 8.1-24 cm
Fine condition.
Swiss collection prior to late 1990s. Private London collection since 1999. -
Egyptian Mixed Bead Group
Circa 2nd millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £98
Comprising various types, composition, sizes and colours, including: glass; calcite; steatite; shell; obsidian; peridot; carnelian; pink limestone; faience and rock crystal; some examples taking zoomorphic and axe forms; some held in perspex collector boxes with inked inventory numbers; accompanied by a handwritten collector's label reading 'glass beads from the tombs near Joppa. 1897' and a more recent note handwritten in the lid of one presentation box: '4 glass beads from 'the tombs near Joppa' now in Tel Aviv-Yafo in Israel, collected in 1897 when part of Ottoman Empire. Gift from Miss C. Rawdin 1982'; also a faience baboon amulet. 248 grams total, 4-33 mm
Fine condition.
Found Joppa, 1897. The property of Mr and Mrs P. R. of East Sussex. Thence by descent to family members. With an old dated label. -
Egyptian Glass Fragment Collection
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, 1550-1292 B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
Comprising fragments of mainly opaque blue glass displaying polychrome motifs; held in a clear-topped presentation case with clasp. 319 grams total, 14.5 x 13.5 cm including box
Ex Japanese art market. London art market, 1996.