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 Silver Ring with FELIX
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Carinated hoop, stud bezel with incised with the Roman name 'FE/LIX'. 3.39 grams, 21.24 mm overall, 16.82 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M 1/2, USA 6 1/4, Europe 13.09, Japan 12)
Acquired on the EU art market around 2000. From the collection of a North American gentleman. -
Gemstone Group
Roman, circa 1st century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £520
Comprising agate, carnelian, jasper and other stones, displaying intaglio busts and scenes including: Hercules wrestling the Nemean lion; female busts in profile; cockerel standing right; seated winged deity; an erotic scene; peacock or other bird; eagle grappling with a snake; two figures, possibly gladiators in combat; each accompanied by a museum-quality impression. 6.97 grams total, 11-15 mm
Ex property of a Bristol family collection formed between 1960-late 1970s. Two from a London collection, UK. -
Roman Bronze Lock Bolt
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
The rectangular plate with differently sized horizontal and vertical extensions, five sub-square perforations. 19.3 grams, 60 mm
Acquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.
This bolt would originally have been associated with a tumbler mechanism; the matching teeth of a slide key would slide into the cut-outs of the bolt replacing the tumblers and allowing the bolt to be drawn. -
Roman Glass Bead Necklace
2nd-5th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £46
Composed of graduated glass beads of various shades of blue and type of bead, including carinated, oblate, coin-shaped and cuboid example, together with other types; restrung. 13.1 grams, 70 cm long
Ex W.J. collection, 1990s. -
Roman Terracotta Trulla
Circa 3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Comprising a truncated conoid body and integral splayed handle. 248 grams, 22 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
A trulla was a type of pan used by the Romans. -
Large Roman Bronze Statue Toe
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Modelled with naturalistic nail detailing. 155 grams, 69 mm
Acquired early 2000s. Property of a Birmingham, UK, collector. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman. -
Roman and Other Bronze Ring Group
Circa 1st century B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £59
Mainly comprising finger rings with decorative bezels; most worn. 46 grams total, 20-24 mm
Ex London art market, 1990s. -
Large Roman Fragmentary Cameo with Face
3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
Carved in high-relief in (likely) agate; sympathetically mounted on a naturalistic base; chipped; mounted by the late Alison Barker in her own inimitable style. 95 grams, 55 mm
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister. -
Roman Enamelled Bronze Miniature Votive Altar
3rd-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £293
Formed with four out-turned legs and sub-square top with knop to each corner and central circular void, rectangular panel to each side face with arched lower edge and alternating foliate and geometric polychrome enamelled design. 22.8 grams, 34 mm
Fine condition.
Found Cambridgeshire, pre 2000. -
Roman Bronze Mouse Holding Nut
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Sitting on its haunches, eating a large nut, stylised incised detailing to its textured coat, feet, ears and face; small socket to wedge-shaped base. 17.8 grams, 27 mm
Acquired before 2000. From the collection of a European gentleman living in the UK. -
Roman Enamelled Bronze Axe Brooch
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
Complete with pin and catchplate to reverse; the axe decorated with blue and red enamel fill. 3.17 grams, 26 mm
Acquired in the 1970s. Ex Clark collection, Dorset; UK. -
Roman Bronze Sun Whorl Brooch Group
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Composed of two openwork brooches, including one complete example with pin lug, pin and catchplate to reverse. 18.4 grams total, 30 mm each
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.