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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Viking Age Gold Elf Shot Pendant with Garnet
9th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
With a suspension loop and short length of chain composed of coiled wire links, clasping a polished plano-convex garnet. 0.94 grams, 24 mm
Fine condition.
Acquired 1970-2010. Collection of a late Japanese gentleman.
This amulet was believed to offer protection against 'Elfshot'. The attack of elves was believed responsible for mysterious suffering in men and livestock. 'Elfshot' described sudden shooting pains localised to a particular area of the body, such as in rheumatism, arthritis or muscle stitches or cramps. Elves were thought to shoot darts or arrows where such pains had no obvious external cause. Belief in elfshot persisted into the 20th century in rural areas, and as proof country folk would sometimes find small arrowheads (the remains of Neolithic or Mesolithic flints, or naturally-occurring spear-shaped stones) that were believed to be the magical weapons that caused the afflictions. Belief in elfshot began in the Pagan Germanic period. -
Viking Bronze Bird Brooch
Circa 1100 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Modelled standing right on an openwork perch; remains of fastening mechanism to reverse; Weetch Type 30A. 8.6 grams, 36 mm
From a Lancashire collection. From the collection of a North American gentleman. -
Viking Age Bronze Faux Twisted Ring
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Composed of a slender hoop base and expanded bezel. 4.16 grams, 25.39 mm overall, 18.04 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. -
Viking Coiled Bronze Ring
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Punched ring-and-dot decoration to the expanded central section, orderly striations of pecking over the rest of the body. 11.13 grams, 23.03 mm overall, 18.64 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Bronze Strap End with Beast Facing Back
9th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Tongue-shaped with pelletted border enclosing an openwork mesh of tendrils and advancing beast with head reversed; flat attachment panel with ferrous remains of two rivets. 16 grams, 52 mm
Fine condition.
Found whilst searching with a metal detector on 10th February 2019 in Brigstock, East Northamptonshire, UK, by Scott Marshman. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BH-56D411. -
Viking Age Bronze Bracelet with Hatched Panels
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Formed as a penannular hoop and carinated outer face with expanded terminals. 70 grams, 70 mm wide
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Large Anglo-Saxon Bronze Zoomorphic Strap End
Circa 9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Leaf-shaped with double piercing at the upper end, beast-head finial, remains of silver panels with niello ornament; Thomas's Class A 1. 12.5 grams, 66 mm
Found near Great Chesterford, Cambridgeshire, UK, 2000s. -
Viking Age Bronze Sun Whorl Pendant
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Featuring an integral suspension loop, sun whorls within border in relief. 11.9 grams, 37 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Ring with Warriors with Shields and Spears
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Engraved onto a discoid bezel; slender hoop. 3.81 grams, 23.80 mm overall, 19.60 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)
London art market before 2000. Property of an Essex gentleman. -
Viking Age Bronze Decorated Comb Pendant
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Composed of two crescentic arms, bifacial pecked and punched ring-and-dot motifs to the body; two perforations for attachment. 24 grams, 46 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
Pre-Viking Bronze Animal Head Pendant
7th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £351
Comprising a domed body, modelling a bear's head with ropework to the muzzle, ears pierced; concave reverse. 11.4 grams, 46 mm
From an old German collection, formed in the 1990s. -
Viking Age Bronze Zoomorphic Buckle Collection
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Each buckle decorated with zoomorphs and geometric motifs, one with remains of gilding, one openwork and one with an articulate tongue. 18.1 grams total, 27-39 mm
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.