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 Necklace
New Kingdom-Late Period, 1550-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Composed of polychrome glazed beads of mainly tubular and annular types, together with pendant beads including two blue Amarna bunches of grapes, fruits and lotus buds; restrung with a modern clasp. 5.64 grams, 49 cm long
From the collection of a London gentleman, 1980s-1990s. -
Phoenician Bronze Pazuzu Head Amulet
7th-6th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
Piriform pendant with janiform facial detailing and loop. 16.2 grams, 31 mm
Acquired 1969-1999. From the private collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK, thence by descent.
Pazuzu was a divine personification of the southwestern wind, and ruled supreme over other wind demons. As an apotropaic entity, he was considered as both destructive and dangerous, whose power could repel other demons and safeguard homes from their malevolent influence. Phoenician artisans produced many cross-cultural items with Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences. -
Egyptian Amulet and Bead Collection
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Composed of stone, glass and composition amulets and beads of various types, including and eye insert. 23.2 grams total, 8-38 mm
From a Paris gallery, French collection pre 1978. -
Egyptian Bronze Mummiform Osiris Statuette
Late Period, 664-343 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Wearing a tall Atef crown with sun disc and uraeus, arms crossed at the chest, holding the royal crook and flail. 57 grams, 12.1 cm
Gifted by Herbert Parsons (1870-1940) to his grandson, James Gibson (1926-2013). Inherited by the vendor and her brother, from their grandfather James Gibson. -
Egyptian Lower Legs from an Unfinished Limestone Figure
Possibly First Intermediate Period, 2181-2055 B.C. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £143
Showing the shins and two feet from a larger figure, rectangular section back and base. 560 grams, 10.2 cm
Fair condition.
Acquired in the 1970s. Property of a London gentleman. -
Egyptian Faience Amulet Group
New Kingdom, Amarna Period, 1353-1336 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Composed of polychrome amulets of various types, with suspension loops. 1.53 grams total, 9-22 mm
From an early 20th century collection, Surrey, UK. -
Greek Bronze Eagle Standing on Bull's Head
1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Formed in the round as an eagle standing on the head of a bull, each animal showing semi-naturalistic detailing; socket and loop through the centre. 5.64 grams, 28 mm
Ex private collection, 1980s. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s. -
Sarmatian Gold Dress Mount Group
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
Each composed of a sheet-metal disc with central repoussé conical dome, concentric borders of faux strip twist wire; the edge with shallow domes and a sunburst motif, four fastening holes to each element. 14.75 grams total, 63-66 mm wide
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
Ornamental discs of this type decorated the long dresses of Sarmatian princesses, arranged vertically on long garments, on shawls, and on the upper shoulders. They were fixed to the garments through sewing, using the fastening holes. -
Graeco-Roman Megarian Terracotta Cup with Nymphs
2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Hemispherical in form with decoration in relief featuring fluting alternating with nymphs and symbols beneath an architectural border, cracked and chipped. 257 grams, 11.9 cm wide
Private Dutch collection, 1970-2010. Ex private Dutch collection, 2010-2018.
The term ‘Megarian’ bowl applied to this type of pottery is a modern convention for academic purposes. The name ‘Megarian’ was first given to this type of mould-made relief bowl in the late 19th century, because some of the first known examples were said to have come from the city of Megara. In reality, such terracotta items originated in Athens in the 3rd quarter of the 3rd century BC, and from that point were made in all major Greek cities for the duration of the Hellenistic period and into the Roman, especially in Alexandria. This relief-decorated pottery became more popular than painted pottery during the Hellenistic period. This class of hemispherical bowl was made in moulds and was characterised by decoration imitating metallic beakers. When the finished bowl was taken from the mould, it was probably dipped in varnish or dull paint and fired. According to Prof. P.V.C. Baur, the stamps used for making moulds were not produced in every manufacturing centre of ‘Megarian’ bowls, but were made only in important centres such as Athens, Pergamon, Antioch and Alexandria, and sold to potters throughout the Hellenistic world. The fact that the edge of the bowl is turned outwards suggests Athenian production, and a comparison with the decorative petals on the Delian Cup (no.1913.199 of the Rebecca Darlington collection) is also plausible. -
Thracian Silver Decorated Axehead Pendant Pair
5th-3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Comprising: one with punched pellets and crescents above the edge on each face; the other with a pointillé scroll. 4.8 grams total, 20-23 mm
Acquired in the early 1970s. Ex property of a Surrey, UK, collector. -
Etruscan Tinned Bronze Armoured Belt Hook
6th-5th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Composed of a scalloped foliate plate and tapering neck, displaying geometric and foliate detailing. 26 grams, 11.7 cm
Acquired in the 1970s. Private collection of a London antiquarian. -
Greek Terracotta Votive Horse and Rider Figure
Circa 700 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Modelled in the round, the horse and rider with headgear; one leg absent. 57 grams, 90 mm wide
Ex private UK collection formed in the 1990s. Property of an East Sussex, UK, teacher.