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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Visigothic Bronze Buckle with Plate and Animal-Headed Tongue
6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Heater-shaped plate with central stud, kidney-shaped loop, large tongue of carinated profile with animal-head finial. 63.5 grams, 66 mm
English collection, early 2000s. Ex central London gallery. -
Viking Age Silver Bracelet
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Composed of a penannular body with expanded terminals, possibly later flattened. 39.2 grams, 61 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Lozenge-Shaped Pendant
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Composed of an openwork body adorned with bulbs, bar and loop above. 4.9 grams, 35 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Silver Thor's Hammer Pendant
10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
With stamped triangle and pellets to each face, curled suspension loop and silver-wire ring. 2.74 grams, 39 mm
Acquired on the EU art market around 2000. From the collection of a North American gentleman. -
Viking Age Bronze Tortoise Brooch Pair
Circa 10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
Each composed of a domed ovoid body with chased lozenges and geometric motifs, five projecting studs in cruciform arrangement; remains of pin lug and catchplate to reverse. 141 grams total, 71 mm each
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
These brooches are usually found on the breast of Viking women in grave excavations. Two oval brooches on the upper chest represent the pinafore dress worn by the Viking women, decorated with zoomorphic or geometric ornaments. -
Viking Age Gold Scutiform Pendant
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £624
Composed of a flat-section discoid body, pierced lobe for suspension, central pellet, four smaller pellets around and band to the border, eight lozenge stamps each with four pellets. 1.94 grams, 23 mm
Private UK collection before 2014. -
Viking Age Bronze Cross Pendant Collection
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £293
Including openwork and bifacial examples, each decorated with a different design and a suspension loop. 29 grama total, 33-42 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Pre-Viking Silver Filigree Bucket Pendant
4th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
A silver pendant formed as a miniature bucket with applied filigree bands to the strap handle and body. 2.57 grams, 24 mm
Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK.
Pendants in the form of miniature buckets have been found in a number of pagan Anglo-Saxon and Viking contexts and are generally made of bronze or iron, with gold examples being rare; three gold examples were found with the hoard from Hoen, Norway. Bronze bucket amulets have been found at Driffield in Yorkshire, and Vimose bog in Denmark, among other places. In form they represent wooden buckets bound with bronze or iron bands which have been found in Anglo-Saxon and Viking graves and are believed to have held mead or ale and were used to replenish the cups from which warriors drank. As amulets they probably represent the ecstatic power of alcoholic drink and the role of women as the dispensers of these precious beverages. -
Large Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Harness Pendant with Dragons
Late 5th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Comprising a bell-shaped body, slot to the upper end, beast-heads to the lateral edges, median raised rib, scrolled detailing to the lower edge; two rows of punchmarks, each a triangle containing three pellets and a separate pellet to the apex. 24.2 grams, 64 mm
Property of a Yorkshire gentleman; found by his grandfather during ground working in the 1950s; thence by descent. -
Viking Age Tinned Bronze Openwork Disc Brooch
Circa 10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Displaying a quatrefoil motif embellished with pellets; remains of pin lug and catchplate to reverse. 29.6 grams, 52 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Saxon Bronze Sword Scabbard Pyramid Mount
Circa 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Garnet inlay to top face and one side face, the latter with hatched foil backing and set against a white meerschaum(?) field; three cells empty; rectangular recess to the underside with a median bar. 4.76 grams, 17 mm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.
The mount had to slide on a strap as part of the suspension mechanism for the scabbard. -
Viking Coiled Bronze Ring
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Composed of nine tiers of round cross-section coils, the terminals tapering to points. 17.88 grams, 22.14 mm overall, 17.42 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.