Arch-topped and composed of two vertical boards, coated with gesso and skilfully painted on one side; the lunette decorated with a winged sun-disc and two pendant uraei; the central vignette depicting the deceased worshipping the falcon-headed god Ra-Horakhty with the Four Sons of Horus standing behind, each with their name written above; the lower register with six lines of hieroglyphic text providing an offering formula for the benefit of the deceased: Transliteration of the hieroglyphs: 1) ḥtp-dı-͗nsw rꜤ-ḥr-Ꜣḫtı͗nṯr Ꜥ nb pt sḥḏ [.....] wsır͗ ẖntt [ım͗ntt?] 2) nṯr Ꜥ nb Ꜣbḏw dı⸗͗f pr.t-ḫrw t ḥnḳt kꜢ Ꜣpd [....] ḫt nb(t) (n) fr(t) wꜢbt […] 3) ḫt nbt nḏm dı⸗͗f ḥtpw ḏfꜢw [...]f ḫꜢ m t dı⸗͗f ḫꜢ m 4) ḥnḳt dı⸗͗f ẖꜢ ır͗p [...] dı⸗͗f ḫꜢ m ı͗[...] dı⸗͗f ḫꜢ ı(͗Ꜣ)r(r)t dı⸗͗f 5) m snṯr ḥr ḫꜢwt [...] ḳrs nfr ḥr ım͗nt nfr 6) n [..] wsır͗ [......] pꜢ-dı-͗ım͗n(m) ıp͗ Ꜣ.t ms (n) ḫꜢ [....] Translation: 1) An offering that the king and Ra-Horakhty, Great God, Lord of Heaven, the illuminated [...] Osiris Foremost [of the West?] 2) Great God, Lord of Abydos (that) he may give a voice-offering (of) bread, beer, oxen, and fowl […] everything good and pure […] 3) everything sweet, he gives offerings of provisions […] a thousand of bread, he gives a thousand of 4) beer, he gives a thousand of wine […], he gives a thousand of vines, he gives a thousand of 5) incense on the altar […] a good burial in the beautiful West 6) for […] the Osiris[…] Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat born (to) Kha[…]; on the verso, an old handwritten collection label reading: 'From Harding & Sm[ith] Collection Sale Sotheby 2 Nov 1922 L.N. 234. A families[sic] stele, arched top, with the deceased worshipping a standing Horus attended by the four Children of Horus and six horizontal lines of inscription in colour. SP/10a'; mounted in a custom-made wooden frame.

Depicted nude in a dynamic pose with his legs apart and the weight of the body upon his right leg, standing in front of a two storey structure, probably an oven; his left arm raised and right arm extended in front of his torso and resting on the edge of the structure; the oven painted pink at the top and white at the bottom with an offering receptacle at floor level.

Squat ovoid in profile, modelled with the legs folded beneath the body, with hollow socket eyes, flared rim to mouth; copper lug on either side.

With inverted echinus lip and tall neck, a ribbed handle to each side with coiling lotus buds and palmettes beneath the handles; Side a) a running winged Gorgon depicted frontally, dressed in a black and red chiton; Side b) an aristocratic warrior wearing a Chalcidian helmet and driving a quadriga, the two central horses superimposed, the other two turned outward; a frieze of lotus buds and a band Greek key motifs below, the neck decorated with red and black palmettes, and elongated lotus blossoms; restored.

With a high foot, laurel wreath encircling the neck, checkerboard and meander patterns alternating around the lower body, roundels of tongue motif to the handles with palmettes and tendrils below; two red-figure scenes to the body: Side a: a high-quality depiction of a kōmos composed of five figures, including a young man holding a torch, a double flute player next to three dancers, all possibly followers of Dionysus; Side b: three draped figures conversing comprising a central female figure between two opposed male figures, one holding a staff; two old labels: one with 3061-133 on the inner rim, and 113/2 (believed to be an old Christie's lot label from the 1960s by Richard Falkiner) on the sidewall, further old accession numbers 321 and 35 under the base.

With D-section hollow-formed hoop and flared ellipsoid bezel, set with a Roman intaglio depicting a war galley under sail.

Grey fabric, broad discus with concentric rings and chamfered shoulder, short nozzle flanked by volute scrolls; scene of two murmillo gladiators in combat, one having fallen to the ground; maker's stamp to the underside 'MAR[..]S'; mounted on a custom-made stand.

A reused tablet with a recessed panel on one side, the last tablet of a legal document which consisted of two (diptychon) or three tablets (triptychon); ten black inked lines of New Roman cursive script, the end of a record of a transaction in formulaic legal language, probably a sales contract, between the buyer (emptor) Bassus and a person called Neronianus; traces of text (perhaps in rustic capitals) to the reverse.

Modelled with naturalistic features, gazing left, sculpted pupils and strong lids; luxuriant beard and moustache framing the face; strong forehead with tightly formed curls emerging from beneath the lion's skin hood; the hood with clear eye detailing and the mane with regularly arranged tufts; original iron pin to the front of the muzzle; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

From a Greek original, wearing a crown of leaves and corymbs, hair falling in straight lines underneath the diadem; full beard composed of four rows of thick tufts with drilled holes; slightly open mouth with a fleshy lower lip; low cheekbones and hollow cheeks; large almond-shaped eyes with lachrymal duct; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Carved with comma-leaf detailing to the hair, a low brow over almond-shaped eyes, broad triangular nose and thick moustache obscuring the mouth; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Lentoid-section slab with incised grid to each face: one with three columns, impressed roundels and crescents, grid and other symbols; the other face with four columns, each cell filled with marks and symbols.

Pillow-shaped clay tablet with cuneiform text to both broad faces and one edge from Garšana (iv/Šu-Sîn 8?), a receipt for various clothing, with several dedications to the deities Ninsiana, Mami, Dadmuštum and Šubula; Dadmuštum is rarely mentioned, reading: '1 tu ba-tab tuh-hu-um 3-kam us 2 1 tu ša -ga-du ba-tab tug-hu-um / 3-kam us 1 tu ta -ki-ru-um 3-kam us 4 dnin- dsi -an-na 4 tu guz-za 4-kam us 6 2 tu guz-za 4-kam us dma-mi x ? 2 tu guz-za 4-kam us / dda-ad-muš-tum R 8 2 tu niĝ -lam 4-kam us dšu-bu-la ki-la -bi 26 1/3 ma-na 10 2 tu bar-dul us-bar 4 tu sag us-bar 12 5 tu us -bar 4 ma-na 3 tu mug 14 ki !-aš-ta -gar -ta puzur -a-ku-um šu ba-ti 16 iti ki-siki- dnin-a-zu mu ma -gur -mah mu-/dim' translation: '1 (simple) garment batab tuhhum (a kind of fabric?), thrice, medium quality 1 garment šagadu (of linen) batab tuhhum thrice, medium quality 1 garment takirum, thrice, medium quality (for) Ninsiana; 4 tufted garments, in quadruple, medium quality 2 tufted garments, in quadruple, medium quality : (for) Mami 2 tufted garments, in quadruple, medium quality : (for) Dadmuštum. 2 niglam garments, in quadruple, medium quality : (for) Šubula Their weight is 26 1/3 mines. 2 bardul garments (from) the weavers 4 garments if first quality (from) the weavers 5 (simple) garments étoffes (from) the weavers : 4 mines 3 garments in coarse wool Puzur-Akum has received (these garments) from Aštaqar. In the month of Kisiki.Ninazu The year in which the big (ceremonial) boat was built'.

With trumpet-shaped mouth, ibex-shaped finial with curved horns and legs folded beneath the body, spout to the chest; repaired.

A heavy penannular neck torc with carinated body and tapering coiled terminals.

With trapezoidal headplate, shallow bow, narrow triangular foot and pelta-shaped finial, pin-lugs and catch to the reverse; the headplate with (originally silvered) angled panels to the upper corners and D-shaped lug at the middle of the upper edge; rectangular corner panels interrupting a frieze of Salin's Style I face motifs, inner plain band and raised rectangular panel above the junction with the ribbed bow; lappets of Salin's Style I profile heads flanking the junction of the bow with the footplate and vertical bar running to the finial, bisecting a cruciform panel with Salin's Style I zoomorphic forms, and outer plain lobes; finial comprising a disc with four radiating ribbed arms and central boss, pelta-shaped terminal; cleaned and one lateral lobe reattached.

With a slightly domed profile and a raised circumferential border to the upper face; decorated with Celtic designs featuring elaborate curvilinear tendrils and triskele-style swirls enclosing an area of fine-line trumpet spiral designs, set around a central rectangular panel filled with millefiori-style enamel work in the form of an irregular chequerboard of blue and yellow enamel, the circular recesses retaining red enamel traces; two parallel rivets to the reverse.

A bowed anthropomorphic mount in the form of the face of Odin, with oval right and damaged left eye, beard and hair raised to form a convex shape, rounded cheeks, a triangular nose and a beard, moustache with lateral protrusion, the hair openwork and formed of entwined linear elements, five rivet holes present.

Central panel decorated with a heart pierced by two arrows and inscription: 'qui de bon [COER] eyme', and verso openwork carving of blind interlaces and inscription: 'de bon [COER] donne', translating to 'He who loves from the heart, gives with a good heart'; probably given as a love token.

Hollow-formed vessel formed as a male bust; discoid body with chamfered shoulder bearing bands of running zigzag detailing and three splayed feet; the head with low-relief hair and rim of bosses with linear spirals, gracile facial features with lentoid eyes and slender nose, small pouting mouth; short spout to the forehead, filler-hole to top of the head with hinged cover; handle to the rear formed as a reptile with head and forepaws placed on the hair below the hinge and joining the base above one of the feet.

Parcel-gilt bronze crucifix with cloisonné enamel geometric ornament; separate appliqué Corpus Christi, crowned with detailed musculature; lower legs and feet absent; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Inner wooden casket with chamfered rim and separate lid, encased within rectangular gilt-bronze panels with enamel decoration, four gilt-bronze stud feet to the underside; the lid with three nimbate figures, a female saint with palm frond and two flanking figures holding books, all reserved on a blue field with interstitial polychrome rosettes; Side A: nimbate bearded bust of Christ in Majesty with right hand in gesture of benison, left hand supporting a book, flanked by two winged nimbate angels; Side B: nimbate bust of a winged angel in a roundel; Side C: geometric repeating pattern of lozenges with floral fill; Side D: mirror image of Side B.

Substantial D-section hoop, expanding shoulders with reserved flowers and foliage, discoid bezel with intaglio regardant leaping goat in a pelletted ring, fronds and stars in the field, enigmatic inscription 'd[..] / de.to'.

With flat-topped crown, hair hanging in hanks to the shoulders, long D-shaped face with domed eyes, slender figure with ribs emphasised, knee-length loincloth falling in rippling folds; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Flat in section with crescentic upper end and scrolled lower end, the surface formed with symmetrically placed low-relief palmettes, vine tendrils with grapes and foliage, reserved against the field enamelled in green, dark blue and red. 94 grams, 13 cm

Very good condition.

Acquired in the early 1980s. with Edward Smith, USA. From the collection of a Connecticut, USA, collector. with TimeLine Auctions, 23 May 2017, no.251. Private American collection, New York, USA. 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.11994-210999.

This could be an example of a Romano-British bronze and enamel handle from a mirror or patera, similar to some other existing examples in museums. The shape of the handle is similar to one of the famous pateras from Pompeii. Our specimen is decorated with 'Celtic-style' motifs consisting of a curvilinear scrollwork design of turquoise and blue enamel. A bowl with almost identical enamel work was found in Staffordshire, known as 'The Staffordshire Pan' (WMID-3FE965), while a complete patera was excavated in Amiens (known as the Amiens Patera).

Fragmentary vessel, cylindrical in form with lateral D-shaped lugs at the rim, each pierced to accept a bronze drop-handle with returned ends; the outer face with decorative frieze executed in pointillé technique consisting of a hunting scene: (1) a nude male with right arm raised to wield a spear overarm, left arm hidden behind a lenticular shield with pointed boss, with a cloak billowing from the left shoulder and wearing calf-length boots, advancing towards (2) a panther with densely spotted pointillé body, in rampant pose with s-curved tail, raised forepaws and with a curled tree behind the body, attacking (3) a nude male similarly equipped to (1), with head turned to the rear, wielding a sword or large knife in his right hand, following (4) another nude male with a cloak, shield and knife which he plunges into the throat of (5) a bear attacking to the left with forelegs raised, its rounded head with small lobed ears while to its rear stands (6) a male with shield raised and cloak billowing, right hand raised holding a rounded trefoil item (perhaps a net), and to his rear stands (7) a nude male with cloak, shield and spear which he thrusts towards (8) the neck of an attacking gryphon, winged, with an erect mane and beaked head in leaping pose behind (1); the figures all executed in pointillé style with pellets for the eyes, navel and nipples; detached base plate, undecorated but showing signs of tinning. 523 grams, 22 cm wide



Found East Anglia, believed Cambridgeshire, UK. From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of Drandaki, A., "ΥΓΙΕΝΩΝ ΧΡΩ KYPI(E)" A Late Roman brass bucket with a hunting scene.

The vessel is of an unusual type: three have been found in Turkey, Italy and Spain, three in England (excluding the present examples) and three others have unknown findspots; this find brings the total of known examples to ten. The rarity of these vessels indicates the high status of their owners. Each of these buckets is decorated with a hunting frieze and most have an inscription in early medieval Greek. Their manufacture is so similar that it is thought that they were produced at a single workshop in the Eastern Empire, possibly at Antioch, in the 6th century AD (Drandaki, n.d.). Their exact use is not certain, but since several of the inscriptions refer to 'good health' this suggests a domestic setting related to bathing. The rounded object held by figure (6) is clearly based on a similar rounded clump which appears on the vessel in Benaki Museum (beneath the word ' KAΛOI') where it is more convincingly executed with a hatched fill (Drandaki, p.39). Only three examples of this type of vessel are previously known from England: one from Bromeswell, Suffolk, within 1 km of the Sutton Hoo cemetery, found in preparatory work for the Sutton Hoo Visitor Centre; one from Chessell Down, Isle of Wight, where the bucket was part of a rich female grave excavated in the 19th century; one from Breamore, Hampshire, found by metal-detectorist, and excavated by Hampshire County Council's archaeology team who discovered that the grave in which it was found formed part of an important early Anglo-Saxon cemetery. The excavation was filmed by Channel 4's Time Team in August 2001; the cemetery held six more burials with bronze containers, though none as grand as this Byzantine example.

Squat vessel, cylindrical in form with lateral D-shaped lugs at the rim, each pierced to accept a bronze drop-handle with returned ends; the outer face with decorative frieze executed in pointillé technique with pellets between the bands consisting of (1) an upper band of running zigzags with fill; (2) clusters of three pellets; (3) sinuous curved line with fronds in the voids; (4) repeat of (2); (5) repeat of (1); underside with three soldered silver panels, possibly ancient repairs. 527 grams, 18.5 cm wide



Found East Anglia, believed Cambridgeshire, UK. From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

The vessel is formally similar to the group of bronze vessels believed to have been made in Antioch in the 6th century, which have been recovered from 6th-7th century grave fields in England (Carver, 2005; Mango et al, 1989) and from sites in the Mediterranean area (see Drandaki, n.d.). While it lacks the elaborate hunting scenes and Greek inscriptions of the more complex examples, it shows most of the same decorative and constructional features.

Squat vessel with rounded underside, gusseted neck and carinated mouth with inner lip; stamped frond decoration to the shoulder and body, arched stamp pattern between; underside with impressed ropework spiral pattern. 497 grams, 14 cm wide



Ex English private collection, formed in the 1960s. Acquired from Bonhams, London, 13 April 2011, no.245 (part). From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages and the original Bonhams lot tag.

With trapezoidal headplate, shallow bow, narrow triangular foot and pelta-shaped finial, pin-lugs and catch to the reverse; the headplate with (originally silvered) angled panels to the upper corners and D-shaped lug at the middle of the upper edge; rectangular corner panels interrupting a frieze of Salin's Style I face motifs, inner plain band and raised rectangular panel above the junction with the ribbed bow; lappets of Salin's Style I profile heads flanking the junction of the bow with the footplate and vertical bar running to the finial, bisecting a cruciform panel with Salin's Style I zoomorphic forms, and outer plain lobes; finial comprising a disc with four radiating ribbed arms and central boss, pelta-shaped terminal; cleaned and one lateral lobe reattached. 82 grams, 13.8 cm



Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Dullingham, Cambridgeshire, UK, on Wednesday 4th October 2023, by David Pearson. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.SF-E6203C, and the museum drawings. Accompanied by a copy of a letter from the finder explaining the circumstances of finding. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12076-211956.

The individual elements of the design have parallels elsewhere in the corpus, and most are very similar to those on a brooch from Nassington (grave 33), pl.94(b) in Hines, 1997. The headplate is very similar in general although the Nassington example shows more punchmarks and tooling, and its lateral lobes and disc finial all bear guilloche detailing whereas those on the present example are plain. Large discoid finials to the footplate are not uncommon (e.g. from Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds on Hines's pl.58) but the pelta-shaped extension appears to be unique; the ribbed cross in the circle as found on the finial is parallelled by the brooch from Chessel Down (Hines's pl.13(b)).

With a slightly domed profile and a raised circumferential border to the upper face; decorated with Celtic designs featuring elaborate curvilinear tendrils and triskele-style swirls enclosing an area of fine-line trumpet spiral designs, set around a central rectangular panel filled with millefiori-style enamel work in the form of an irregular chequerboard of blue and yellow enamel, the circular recesses retaining red enamel traces; two parallel rivets to the reverse. 23.4 grams, 51 mm



Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK, in 2018. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.YORYM-73B821. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12075-124454.

A large openwork fitting, D-shaped in section with incised running keystone and zigzag to the upper and lower faces; openwork plate waisted in profile and formed as three cells flanked by S-coiled beasts; the upper beasts with one raised three-toed forelimb, D-shaped facing mask with pellet eyes, hatched detailing to the body, tribrach to the shoulder, clubbed tail coiled against the body; the lower beasts similar with anguiform details; the upper and lower cells D-shaped, the central one a lozenge, with a column of a hatched fish between; pierced at the upper corners and lower cell, two lateral pierced attachment lugs; ferrous remains, lug and part of a separate rivetted bronze plate to the reverse. 84 grams, 87 mm



Found whilst searching with a metal detector in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, UK, from Tuesday 1 January to Wednesday 1 May 2013. with TimeLine Auctions, 23 May 2017, no.494. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) six page report with refence no.DENO-4207C5 and is designated as 'a find of note'. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12077-210997.

This mount is unusual, although its decoration and manufacturing techniques point to an origin in the British Isles in the 7th-9th centuries. Its D-shaped upper face or ledge indicates that it is not the standard flat form of scabbard or harp fitting. The openwork nature of the casting is equally unusual, although the Steeple Bumpstead boss (British Museum accession no. 1916,0705.1) is formed with an openwork frame into which gilt bronze panels have been inserted, and several Irish croziers were manufactured in this manner (Bourke, 1987). The cells were probably intended to accept a glass inset gem, or an ivory or millefiori panel, although the inner panel of the central cell shows signs of having been gilded as if to reflect light through a translucent gem in the same manner as the foils placed behind the garnets on 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon jewellery and weapon-fittings (Arrhenius, 1985; Carver, 2005). The beasts (especially the upper pair) show strong Irish influence in their design, which is found elsewhere in Northumbrian art in the 8th-9th century as for example on the brow fittings of the Coppergate helmet (Webster & Backhouse, item 47). Similar heads in profile appear on the scabbard chapes from the St. Ninian's Isle Treasure (Wilson, plate IV). The overall design of the piece is tentatively identified with the 'fish flanked by birds' motif seen for example in the Staffordshire Hoard, probably of later 7th century date.

A bowed anthropomorphic mount in the form of the face of Odin, with oval right and damaged left eye, beard and hair raised to form a convex shape, rounded cheeks, a triangular nose and a beard, moustache with lateral protrusion, the hair openwork and formed of entwined linear elements, five rivet holes present. 27.39 grams, 50.66 mm



Found by Steve Aldred whilst searching with a metal detector near Ferryhill, County Durham, UK, on Tuesday 8th March 2022. Recorded with the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and subsequently returned to the finder. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.DUR-834DAB, where this object is described as: 'a find of note and has been designated: of National importance'. Accompanied by a copy of the article about the circumstances surrounding the finding published in the February 2024 issue of Treasure Hunting Magazine. Accompanied by a copy of a photograph taken of the object when it was found on 8th March 2022. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12074-214165.

Comparison has been made with stirrup-strap mounts of Williams (1997) Class A, Type 9, and especially with variants of the form (see HAMP-B7C312). Although relatively few of these mounts have been found, and their distribution is spread across the country, there is an arguable focus on Yorkshire. Commenting on a 2007 Isle of Wight example (IOW-4FA904), Barry Ager (then of the British Museum) suggested a connection with horse-riding equipment, and in particular drew comparisons with a type of face-mask mount on the Danish harness-bow from Søllested (see Wilson and Klindt-Jensen, pl. 37).

With central raised cell and cloisonné enamel quatrefoil, flange rim. 3.72 grams, 22 mm



Acquired between the 1960s-early 1990s. From an old UK private collector from Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Property of K.P., a Cornish lady collector, UK.

With central bosses within a pelletted ring, plain band with stamped roundels, billetted outer band and flared rim; pin-lug, pin and catch to the reverse. 7.01 grams, 26 mm



Found Cambridgeshire, UK.

Flat bronze plaque with openwork detailing of two opposed zoomorphs, their slender bodies enmeshed within a lattice of tails, limbs and lappets; attachment holes at the eyes and rump; the eyes with pointillé surround; supplied with a custom-made stand. 20 grams total, 75 mm including stand



Ex German collection. with Artemis Gallery, Colorado, USA, 8 March 2016, 58A. Private American collection, New York, USA. Accompanied by a copy of a previous typed catalogue page.

The style of the plaque is very heavily influenced by the Irish Book of Kells where confronted, interlaced figures appear as ornament.

Slightly domed profile with boss to the centre, parcel-gilt rim and spandrels, niello-inlaid motif of four bird-heads on curved necks; pin-lugs, hinged pin, catch and loop to the reverse. 23.7 grams, 44 mm



Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK.