Hollow-formed with inset carnelian gemstone engraved with a profile bust of Serapis above a perching eagle flanked by fronds, possibly a marriage. 3.15 grams, 26.98 mm overall, 13.22 mm internal diameter (approximate size British D, USA 1 3/4, Europe 1.15, Japan 1)

Acquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private Swiss collection since 1998.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 142, for type.

With a round-section hoop; closed oval setting with moss agate(?) intaglio engraved with a fly with hatched abdomen. 3.31 grams, 23.14 mm overall, 18.48 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M 1/2, USA 6 1/4, Europe 13.09, Japan 12)

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Hollow-formed with ellipsoid bezel, inset panel of banded iridescent glass bearing an image of a nude Greek hero with long hair, the head turned back, carrying branches, an amphora or jug at his feet. 1.18 grams, 18.29 mm overall, 15.66 mm internal diameter (approximate size British G, USA 3 1/4, Europe 4.92, Japan 4)

Acquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private Swiss collection since 1998.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 103.

The inset glass bezel is probably archaic Greek or Etruscan and reused in Roman times. The traits of the man point to Archaic Hellenic features, especially the oval eyes and the long hair, and the pointed beard reminiscence of the Achaean heroes.

Hollow-formed with facetted shoulders, inset cabochon intaglio of Eros (Cupid) in flight. 3.22 grams, 24.20 mm overall, 16.84 mm internal diameter (approximate size British J 1/2, USA 5, Europe 9.32, Japan 9)

Acquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private Swiss collection since 1998.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 303, for type.

With broad plaque, pelletted border to the hexagonal bezel, inset intaglio profile bust of Hercules with brow-band tied neatly at the rear. 4.32 grams, 20.30 mm overall, 16.51 mm internal diameter (approximate size British J, USA 4 3/4, Europe 8.69, Japan 8)

Acquired on the German art market before 2000.
Property of a Surrey, UK, collector.

Cf. Ruseva-Slokoska, L., Roman Jewellery, Sofia, 1991, item 232, for type.

A hollow-formed hoop with lateral teardrop cells set with cabochon garnets and disc cells to the apex with bulbous central section; filigree and granulation detailing, cells with garnet cloisons; stepped columnar lower section with applied bosses and granulation; Eastern Empire or Parthian. 20.91 grams total, 47-48 mm

From a private collection formed in the 1990s.
Ex London, UK, gallery.

Cf. Marshall, F.H., Catalogue of the Jewellery, Greek, Etruscan and Roman, in the Department of Antiquities, British Museum, London, 1911, item 2587, for type.

The hoop circular in plan and rectangular in cross-section, the sides divide into two segments which separate gradually to form triangular shoulders, on one of the shoulders applied scallop shells with one replaced, four pellets to the base of the bezel; the deep tubular bezel and everted rim decorated with radiating lines, reset with a cabochon garnet. 4.57 grams, 22.24 mm overall, 14.67 mm internal diameter (approximate size British F, USA 2 3/4, Europe 3.67, Japan 3)

Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Great Chart with Singleton, near Ashford, Kent, UK, by Mr Keith Collins on Thursday 5th November 2020.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report with record no.KENT-2D4C88.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's report on a find of potential treasure for H M Coroner with Treasure reference 2021T808, subsequently disclaimed.

See Guiraud. H., Bagues et Anneaux a l'Epoque Romaine en Gaule, in Gallia, vol.46, 1989.

Roman rings with circular hoops are categorised by Guiraud (1998) in her typology as Type 4, those with tubular bezels Types 4a- 4d, Type 4c is shown flanked by two pairs of spherical pellets, and with decorative shoulders (p.189, fig.29), however our example is more consistent with Type 4h.

Composed of a slender rectangular-section hoop and cruciform bezel with expanding round-section arms, central dome and granule to each quarter; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 2.72 grams, 21.96 mm overall, 14.23 mm internal diameter (approximate size British G, USA 3 1/4, Europe 4.92, Japan 4)

Private European collection since the 1950s.
Private collection, UK, 2010.

Cf. Ross, M.C., Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Volume 2: Jewelry, Enamels and Art of the Migration Period, Washington, 2005, item XIV(F) and XCVII(I), for type.

Recalling workmanship similar to that found in the floor of the Sistine Chapel and other important Roman churches; comprising a central panel with design of alternating green and speckled porphyry lozenges, with interstitial green and porphyry squares flanked by green or blue rhombuses on each edge; the square central panel flanked by two green and porphyry roundels composed of panels with inset squares and triangles, with white dentilled edges over a green background; each roundel enclosed within a mosaic crosier, one filled with yellow rhombuses with dentilled edges composed of white, green and porphyry triangles; the other comprising two parallel rows of squares and rhombuses in porphyry, green and black stones. 41 kg, 80 x 36 cmRare, very good condition.

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. 11921-209564.

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; Glass, D., Studies on Cosmatesque Pavements, BAR Publishing, London, 1980; 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.

A similar pattern to the current panel can be seen on the cosmatesques of the Grottaferrata Abbey, near Rome, variously dated between the 1160 and 1282 A.D., which can be a good chronological indicator for our mosaic for style and composition. The Cosmatesque style was a characteristic type of ornamentation of Eastern Roman origin (opus alexandrinum) in the technique of opus sectile (elements already cut with the final shape: circles, squares, triangles and lozenges; small geometric elements which, expertly fitted together, manage to create the effect of a magnificent embroidered carpet) used by marble-makers of the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. The practice of inlaying glass and stone tesserae into white marble panels in this way, although reaching its zenith under the directorship of the Cosmati, had already been established in the Eastern Roman Empire for at least five centuries, and by the 12th century many marble pavements and panels of Opus Alexandrinum had been used to decorate prestigious churches and religious foundations, both across Italy and further afield, often by reusing old Roman monuments.

Bell-shaped with part-glazed surface, basal ring; geometric panels to the rim, concentric rings to the body, reserved band of spirals. 487 grams, 19 cm wide

Ex old English collection.
London art market, pre 2000.
Property of a Lonodon, UK, gentleman.

Articulated enkolpion with loop; low-relief robed figure to each face in orans pose with legend above 'ΟΑΓΗΟC / NΑΠ[.]ΔΗC' (Saint ...) and ΟΑΓΗΟCΓ/ΗΟΡΓΗC (Saint George). 51 grams, 97 mm

Acquired on the German art market before 2000.
From an EU collection before 2020.

See Pitarakis, B., Les Croix-Reliquaires Pectorales Byzantines en Bronze, Paris, 2006, for discussion.

Divided into six sections by Christogram letters chi and rho, two of the segments with Greek letters alpha and omega, the other four segments with floral ornaments; a laurel wreath to the edge; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 84 kg total, 77 cm high including stand

From a German collection.
Acquired from Germany in 2010.
Ex London, UK, 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.11928-209561.

Cf. Mendel, G., Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines, Constantinople, 1914, nos.722-723 (2398-2249), vol.II, pp.519-520; 1174 (823) p.417; Grabar, A., L’etá d’oro di Giustiniano, (The Golden Age of Justinian), Milan, 1966, figs.255, 288, 296; for an item in similar style, but with a simple cross and leaves, see also the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, accession no.10.175.89.

This monumental sculpture was probably affixed at the top of a church façade, a type of decoration also used in the Western Romanesque art during the Middle Ages (see the sculpted Chi Rho monogram at the Monastery of San Juan de la Pena, Spain). The presence of letters alpha and omega shows a powerful link with the Christian cult, especially as the two letters are incised beside the Chi Rho. These letters are symbols of eternity of Jesus: in the final verses of the Bible, Jesus describes himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation, 22.13).