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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Late Roman Silver Bow Brooch Group
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising: brooch of Elbefibel type with notched bow and lozenge-shaped footplate with chased lozenges within; spring, pin and catchplate intact to reverse; P-shaped bow brooch with coiled spring and footplate curving backwards to form the catchplate, one corner tapering to a slender bar coiled around the base of the bow. 12.5 grams total, 38-46 mm
From the collection of an EU gentleman formed in the 1990s. Acquired on the UK art market. -
Roman Bronze Bird Brooch
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Complete with pin and catchplate (chipped) to reverse; the bird advancing left with head turned backwards, tail modelled in the round, feather detailing to the wing, annular eye. 12.3 grams, 46 mm
Ex John Hayward collection, exhibited at Ipswich museum. -
Roman Bronze Footed Platter
Circa 1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £364
Comprising a shallow tapering rim and slightly domed foot. 1.67 kg, 27.5 cm wide
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Roman Bronze Openwork Plate Brooch
Circa 2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Comprising an openwork piriform frame enclosing a fleur, leading to a trilobite finial; complete with pin and catchplate to reverse. 2.99 grams, 31 mm
Acquired from York Antiques Centre. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Gary Edwards. -
Roman Glass Bead Necklace
2nd-5th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £52
Composed of graduated blue glass beads of various types, including oblate, tubular, barrel-shaped and other types. 11.2 grams, 71 cm long
Ex W.J. collection, 1990s. -
Roman Silver Cochlear Spoon Inscribed 'May You Live in God'
Circa 4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Composed of a decoratively twisted slender stem with onion knop finial and roughly D-shaped neck formed as the arched neck of a horse, the restored oval bowl bearing a Latin inscription '[V]IVASINDEO' to the interior, the underside gently carinated. 13.5 grams, 13.4 cm
Ex Garcia collection, France, 1990s-2000s.
According to the British Museum, the inscription corresponds to the phrase 'Vivas in deo', meaning 'May you live in God'. This inscription was common in the Roman Empire and especially in Roman Britain after the advent of Christianity. A small Roman silver disc, thought to have been part of a signet ring, dated to 4th-5th century and found near Swaffham, is inscribed 'Antonius, may you live in God (Antoni, vivas in Deo)'. It is highly possible that our spoon, if a liturgical object, was used to administer Holy Communion. -
Roman Life-Size Statue Finger Group
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
The trio formed with semi-naturalistic detailing to the nail beds; hollow-formed; including larger-than-life examples. 210 grams total, 45-73 mm
Acquired on the EU art market around 2000. From the collection of a North American gentleman. -
Roman Bronze Extendable Table Leg
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Composed of two rectangular-section bars with square-sockets. 2 kg total, 1.07 m
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
These bars were one of the four supports of a folding table with a height-adjustable frame, often surmounted by busts of divinities. These folding supports for tables, bracers and cauldrons are known finds from important excavations in the Roman world, like Pompeii. The purpose of such folding stands varied; during a meal they were placed between the triclinium beds with bowls and plates hung to the hooks at the back of the holders. -
Roman Gold and Garnet Pendant
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Displaying a polished garnet cabochon on a discoid setting, ribbed tubular suspension loop above. 0.15 grams, 8 mm
Acquired 1970-2010. Collection of a late Japanese gentleman. -
Roman 'Thames' Leather Shoe Fragment Group
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
Including examples retaining hobnails and sections from various elements of (likely) different shoes. 30 grams total, 4.5-15 cm
Found Billingsgate spoil from the Thames foreshore, London, UK. -
Roman Ceramic Face from a Lamp
Circa 1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Portraying an elderly male figure with pointed chin and pierced ear; repaired fragment. 49 grams, 71 mm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Roman Danubian Temple-Shaped Lead Plaque with Helen of Troy
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Displaying a figural scene in relief composed of a mounted rider (Dioscuros) advancing left towards the figure of Helen of Troy, in the upper register, the sun and the moon, behind the cavalryman a woman or image of Nike holding a crown upon his head. 74 grams, 90 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
The image of Sol Invictus assumed a great importance in the Danubian cult: the frequent representation of the celestial gods on the plaques is paralleled by their representation on monuments of other mystery cults, particularly the cult of Mithras. The image of a Dioscuros on horseback is linked to that of the Danubian rider.