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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Roman Green Glass Bracelet
3rd-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Composed of an annular hoop with convex outer face; held in a jewellery presentation box. 9.4 grams, 64 mm wide
From the private collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK, thence by descent. -
Late Roman Bronze Ring with Warrior
4th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Rectangular bezel with advancing warrior holding a sword and shield. 2.62 grams, 22.50 mm overall, 18.24 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P 1/2, USA 7 3/4, Europe 16.86, Japan 16)
Private collection formed since the 1940s. UK art market. Property of an Essex gentleman. -
Roman Agate Cameo with Medusa
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Displaying a facing female mask featuring hatched hair and naive features. 1.39 grams, 17 mm
Ex property of a London gentleman; acquired on the London art market, 1970-1980. -
Roman Bronze Bracelet with Panthers
2nd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
The penannular round-section hoop terminating in opposed couchant pantheresses, their heads turned in opposite directions. 30.8 grams, 75 mm
UK collection, early 1990s and before. Acquired on the UK art market since the early 2000s. From a private collection, Lancashire, UK. -
Romano-British Bronze Artefact Group
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Comprising a vine-leaf finial from an item of furniture; a P-shaped bow-brooch with pellet detailing; a bronze bow-brooch with lateral flanges. 41.8 grams total, 41-53 mm
Found near Great Chesterford, Cambridgeshire, UK, 2000s. -
Roman Bronze Headstud Brooch
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Displaying pale blue enamel panels to the shoulders, blue glass bead to the bow and elliptical lug to the footplate; partial remains of pin lug and catchplate. 18.7 grams, 56 mm
From an important Mayfair, London, UK collection, before 2012; item 2049. -
Roman Gemstone with Winged Deities
Circa 1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £494
Comprising a rock crystal cloison with intaglio scene of a winged kneeling male with outstretched arms receiving a winged baby from a seated winged female; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. 3.42 grams, 21 mm
Ex property of a London gentleman; acquired by his father in the 1970s; thence by descent. -
Roman Iridescent Glass Unguentarium
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Piriform in shape with cylindrical neck and flange rim. 24.2 grams, 10 cm high
Acquired 1969-1999. From the private collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK, thence by descent. -
Roman Ceramic Conical Vessel
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Featuring an inverted shoulder, shallow rim and splayed foot. 518 grams, 18 cm wide
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection. -
Section of Roman Newark Pavement
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
The section comprising square and rectangular tesserae set into Roman cement; held in a wooden frame with identification plaque. 4.1 kg, 33.3 cm wide
From a 19th century collection based on the bone plaque and frame. From an old collection of antiquities built up by a family in Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK.
This floor section was originally found presumably near the the site of Ad Pontem, a large walled Roman town on the outskirts of Newark. -
Roman Bronze Mouse Holding a Nut
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Modelled in the round with recurved tail forming a suspension loop; its front paws raised to its mouth, holding food. 35.4 grams, 42 mm
Found Suffolk, 1997. -
Roman Redware Bowl Fragment with Hippocampus and Standing Nereid
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
From the upper part of a vessel with two hippocampi (one partial) and a standing figure of a Nereid, floral and foliage decoration to the field, ornamental upper border; repaired. 77 grams, 12 cm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister
The complete vessel probably represented scenes linked with the cult of Poseidon and Amphitrite. The riches of the sea and the dangers of navigation were merged by the ancients into a myth of great fame known as the wedding procession between Poseidon - brother of Zeus and Hades, god of the sea and the Nereid Amphitrite. The Nereids were the divinities of the sea, grandchildren of the ocean. Like the nymphs, all the Nereids were beautiful young women who spent their time singing or weaving. Also involved in the procession were the tritons and hippocampi, who provocatively played shells or were ridden by Nereids.