Likely a finial or other fitting, formed as the upper body of a boar with semi-naturalistic anatomical detailing; recess to base. 57 grams, 54 mm

‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.

Cf. Foster, J., Bronze Boar Figurines In Iron Age And Roman Britain, British Archaeological Report 39, 1977, for discussion and broadly comparable examples.

Formed with an arched D-section neck and triangular base, row of dorsal spines, pricked ears with notched rims, scooped muzzle with knop finial, open mouth with protruding tongue and teeth. 37.8 grams, 48 mm

‘The Ancient Menagerie Collection’ formerly the property of a Cambridgeshire lady, collected since the 1990s and acquired from auctions and dealers throughout Europe and the USA, now ex London collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.203519.

Cf. figure of a dragon attacking a knight in the decorated initial of Flavius Josephus's Jewish Antiquities, reproduced in Zarnecki, G., Holt, J. & Holland, T., English Romanesque Art 1066-1200, London, 1984, p.52; figures on the base of the Gloucester candlestick, p.247, same volume.

Each composed of a large bulb, hinged hoop above adorned with three granulated cells set with glass (one insert absent); four circular cells to the equator set with stones of alternating blue and red colour, granulated lozenges between, pyramid bulbs below adorned with granule clusters, collar of suspension loops above; articulate hinges. 8.87 grams total, 42 mm each

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Comprising two narrow hinged plates and articulated suspension loop with two vertical ribs; obverse with Jesus on the cross, dressed in a long robe with standing Virgin and Saint John on his side, Greek inscription 'ἴδε ὁ υἱός σου.Ἰδοὺ ἡ μήτηρ σου' (John 19:27-28: 'Here is your son. Here is your mother') under the arms; titulum, the sun and the moon above; on the tabula ansata of the titulum a Greek inscription 'Χ fur XΡΙΣΤΟΣ'; reverse with Theotokos (Mother of God) in orans pose and the four busts of the evangelists, at the four arms of the cross. 82 grams, 83 mm

Acquired on the German art market around 2000.
From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

See Pitarakis, B., Les Croix-Reliquaires Pectorales Byzantines En Bronze, Paris, 2006, nos.19, 20, 23, 27, for similar.

This enkolpion is a beautiful example of the type of pendant cross widespread in the 11th-12th centuries. Many variants of enkolpia reflected the new artistic fashions in vogue at Byzantium, influenced by the political and artistic vigour of the Macedonian dynasty. This enkolpion corresponds to type I of the Pitarakis classification.

Composed of a delicate opus interrasile hoop, cup bezel with ribbed underside, granules to the rim, inset amethyst with monogram. 5.18 grams, 28.06 mm overall, 18.23 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)

Acquired 1970s-1980s.
From the property of a deceased lady collector.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.202957.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 486, for type.

Composed of a flat-section hoop with expanded centre, openwork bezel of six gusseted legs topped with pyramid granules and dished discoid centre adorned with granule clusters; Byzantine or Merovingian. 12.96 grams, 30.45 mm overall, 21.38 mm internal diameter (approximate size British W 1/2, USA 11 1/4, Europe 25.66, Japan 24)

Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

Cf. The V&A Museum, accession number M.176-1937, for similar; cf. Adams, N. ed., Intelligible Beauty, London, 2010, p.18, for a similar example.

Rectangular in plan with ornament to all four faces; Side A: facing bust in a stepped square recess, with band of textured short hair, broad face with fleshy features, below this a severe undercut with median D-section column supporting the frame formed as openwork vine-leaves with couchant stag and fawn flanked by two panels of flowering creepers; Side B: facing female bust with band of straight hair, some remains of raised border, deep recessed vertical slot below; Side C: upper panel largely absent, undercut with D-section column of vine-leaves and bunch of grapes flanked by scrollwork; Side D: facing female bust with band of straight hair, remains of fluted border to one side, deep recessed vertical slot below; upper face with one large drilled socket and two smaller; mounted on a custom-made stand. 72.7 kg total, 58.5 cm high including stand

Ex UK art market.
Acquired London in 2009.
Ex central London gallery.

Accompanied by an academic report by Prof. Neritan Ceka.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.202057.

See Mango, C., Antique Statuary and the Byzantine Beholder, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 17, 1963, pp.53-75; Beckwith, J., Early Christian and Byzantine Art, London, 1979.

The treatment of the hair on portraits with the hair combed straight and raised on the forehead, covering the ears, refers to the portraits of sculptures, mosaics, coins, or ivory plaques of Justinian period (527-568 A.D.) and namely to the portrait of Byzantine Empress Theodora (500-548 A.D.) in the Musei del Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy. The decorative sculpture of that period was relatively limited in the presentation of human portraits and our object takes on a special meaning in the framework of the anthropomorphic art of the early Byzantine period.

Composed of a hemispherical body and piriform lid with flange to the equator, hollow-formed lid and base with foot and removeable balustered finial with discoid cap to apex; body with two leaf-shaped plaques with loops to support the articulate round-section handle; body and lid decorated with dense feather or leaf detailing; very rare to find as complete. 406 grams, 16 cm highcracked

Acquired 1969-1999.
From the private collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK, thence by descent.

Recalling workmanship similar to that found in the floor of the Sistine Chapel, comprising a large central panel with a design of alternating green and speckled porphyry lozenges, with interstitial green and porphyry squares flanked by a green or porphyry triangle on each edge; border of plain marble and outer band of green and porphyry roundels made up from vesica-shaped panels with inset squares and triangles. 23.5 kg, 53.5 cm

French gallery, Paris, 1990s.
From a family collection.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.203555.

See Boito, C., Architettura Cosmatesca, Torino, 1860; Hutton, E., The Cosmati, The Roman Marble Workers of the XIIth and XIIIth Centuries, London, 1950; Tosca, P., Storia dell’Arte Italiana, il medioevo, vol. III, Torino, 1965; Matthiae, G., 'Componenti del gusto decorativo cosmatesco,' in Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, vol. I, 1952, pp.249-281; Cigola, M., 'Mosaici pavimentali cosmateschi. Segni, disegni e simboli,' in Palladio, Nuova serie, anno VI n. 11, giugno 1993, pp.101-110; Grant, L. & Mortimer, R. (eds.) Westminster Abbey. The Cosmati Pavements Courtauld Research Papers no.3, 2002.

The Cosmatesque style was a characteristic type of ornamentation of Eastern Roman origin (opus alexandrinum) used by post-Roman marble makers of the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. It embellishes the floors, ciboria and cloisters of churches by means of polychrome marble inlays of varied and imaginative geometric shapes. The wider use of this decoration began in the 12th century, at which time techniques were improved: the Cosmati floors were made with pieces of stone cut in various shapes and sizes, a property quite different from the mosaics in opus tessellatum, in which the motifs were made from small units all having the same size and shape, or from the opus sectile, intended to create representations with pieces of multi-coloured marble cut out and arranged for this purpose. The stones used by Cosmati artists were often material salvaged from the ruins of ancient Roman buildings. The composition of such mosaics recalls the floors of the most important churches of Rome; in addition to the floor of the Sistine Chapel (created probably in the 14th century for the previous building or Cappella Maggiore), one can cite that of Santa Maria Maggiore (1145-1153 A.D.), San Giovanni in Laterano (14th century A.D.), Saint Clement (1099-1120 A.D.), Santi Quattro Coronati (13th century A.D.), Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (12th century A.D.) and many others. The same technique (but differing in its design, materials and motifs) was used to create the Cosmati pavement in Westminster Abbey, where the king rests during the coronation ceremony. The pavement has undergone a major cleaning and conservation programme and was re-dedicated by the Dean at a service on 21st May 2010.

Modelled in the half-round as a mature male figure with full beard, his left arm around the shoulder of the female figure next to him, her garment covering one side of her chest and shoulder, each using one hand to grip a panel of fabric covering their lower bodies (perhaps a bed sheet); two piercings; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 285 grams total, 14.5 cm high including stand

Acquired 1969-1999.
From the private collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK, thence by descent.

Columnar in form with waisted profile and everted rim, restored. 2.1 kg total, 19.5 cm high

with a London, UK gallery 1971-early 2000s.

Modelled in the round in a resting position with its legs folded underneath the body; the head turned to the left, large curving horns, applied glass paste for the eyes; small loop to the back; repaired and mounted on a custom-made display stand. 222 grams total, 14 cm (including base)

Ex private collection, 1960s-1970s.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Accompanied by a copy of metallurgic analytical results, written by metallurgist Dr Peter Northover (ex Department of Materials, Materials Science-Based Archaeology Group & Department of Materials, University of Oxford).
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11743-202215.

See a similar figure of a silver mountain goat, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, inventory no. 59.14; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 47.100.89, for a silver pendant of the Proto-Elamite Period (also roughly circa 3100-2900 BCE).

Like the silver-gilt mountain goat in the Boston Museum, it is possible that this figure originally had applied gilded elements.