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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Merovingian Bronze Ring with Stylised Beast Facing Back
4th-5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Discoid bezel with three incuse pellets and zoomorphic details, regardant beast with open mouth. 3.64 grams, 22.32 mm overall, 18.89 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)
Private collection formed since the 1940s. UK art market. Property of an Essex gentleman. -
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Comb Pendant with Bell
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Retaining its pea, the body with triangular and other geometric motifs. 16.5 grams, 48 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Pendant Collection
Circa 10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Comprising a trio of openwork pendants, each with a geometric or zoomorphic scheme to one face. 45 grams total, 46-49 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Silver Ring with Engraved Design
9th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £176
Composed of a coiled body with expanded central section decorated with a raised medial rib and punched zigzags above and below. 4.50 grams, 20.48 mm overall, 17.10 mm internal diameter (approximate size British K 1/2, USA 5 1/2, Europe 10.58, Japan 10)
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Silver-Gilt Drinking Horn Terminal
Circa 7th-9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Comprising a tapering sleeve and stylised bird-head with scrolled beak and angled bar above the eye; pierced in two places. 14.5 grams, 50 mm
Acquired in the early 1970s. Ex property of a Surrey, UK, collector.
The decorative style of the terminal bears resemblance to the Trewhiddle style, dated to the ninth to early tenth centuries, although it seems a more simplified version of the Taplow Horn terminals. Zoomorphic terminals on Trewhiddle style strap ends bear very similar circular ears containing chevron motifs, and panels of decoration on the brow. -
Large Viking Age Bronze Penannular Brooch
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £169
The body hexagonal in cross-section, facetted terminals and free-running tongue, punched ring-and-dot motifs and dense panels of annulets in three zones around the body. 70 grams, 82 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Bird Mount
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Formed standing left with wings spread, stylised feather and anatomical detailing. 20.3 grams, 48 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Saxon 'Sutton Hoo' Type Iron Cauldron Chain
6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Or a hanging-bowl chain comprising: nine sets of two parallel-twisted 8-shaped links, with interstitial H-shaped twisted elements, the lower four each with a standing bull figure with prominent horns; a lateral hook with herringbone twisted shank; lower hooked flange with four herringbone-twist bars with looped ends; suspension ring and four-bar herringbone-twisted shank. 3.1 kg, 1.03 m
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector.
The chain and fittings closely resemble those recovered from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England (British Museum accession ref. 1939,1010.167). It is understood that the chain was used to support a cauldron above the hearth, with additional hooks and suspension brackets for ancillary vessels. The bull-head detailing was present on the wrought-iron stand (ref. 1939,1010.161) from the same grave. -
Scandinavian Viking Silver Gripping Beast Pendant
Late 10th-early 11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £585
Of Riddarholmen type (also widespread in the historical Rus region), with integral loop; the openwork plaque with banded border and four panels, internal stylised zoomorph with hatched panel to the hip, gripping three-fingered hands to the body and border, two detailed feet, clearly visible facing mask below the loop with pellet eyes. 4.7 grams, 32 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Anglo-Saxon Bronze Clothes Fastener
9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Featuring two pierced lugs, recurved garment hook, beaded border, central boss on triangular panel with zoomorphic elements around. 19 grams, 52 mm
Found Norfolk, UK. Ex property of a UK gentleman. -
Viking Age Silver Double Axe Pendant
9th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
The central oval-shaped socket flanked by two fan-shaped heads, one face displaying a shallow incised X to centre between parallel vertical lines. 6.8 grams, 30 mm
Acquired on the EU art market around 2000. From the collection of a North American gentleman. -
Viking Period Rus Silver Temple Earring Pair
10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Each composed of a decoratively twisted upper hoop, bulbous collars and a large central bulb with projecting cones and granules. 30 grams total, 55-57 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
This style of earring was typical among Slavic women in the 8th-12th centuries, an imitation of Eastern Roman models. Examples have been found in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and with similar decoration in Belarus. Such rings were also worn as part of head-dresses, in which context they are known as ‘temple rings’ because they were worn by women near the temples. They were usually made of base metals, but some silver and gold examples also survive. Different tribes had their own designs, which were often threaded onto a cord, forming part of a head-dress, or woven directly into braids of hair.