Auction Highlights
-
Egyptian Wooden Stela for Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat with Ra-Horakhty
Sold for (Inc. bp): £15,600
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. -
Romano-Egyptian Terracotta Figure of Eros
Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,850
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. -
Egyptian Indurated Limestone Frog-Shaped Cosmetic Vessel
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,750
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. -
Attic Black-Figure Neck-Amphora with Gorgon and Quadriga Attributed to the Swing Painter
Sold for (Inc. bp): £41,600
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. -
Attic Red-Figure Bell Krater with Drunken Male Revellers Attributed to the Kadmos Painter
Sold for (Inc. bp): £32,500
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. -
Hellenistic Gold Ring with Galley Gemstone
Sold for (Inc. bp): £29,900
With D-section hollow-formed hoop and flared ellipsoid bezel, set with a Roman intaglio depicting a war galley under sail. -
Roman 'Published' Terracotta Oil Lamp with Fighting Gladiators
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
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. -
Roman Inked Wooden Tablet for a Contract Between Bassus and Neronianus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £15,600
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. -
Roman Marble Head of Hercules Wearing the Nemean Lion Skin
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
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. -
Roman Marble Head of Dionysus
Sold for (Inc. bp): £23,400
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. -
'The Anglesey' Romano-British Marble Head of a Celtic Warrior
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,150
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. -
Proto-Sumerian Terracotta Tablet with Archaic Text
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,050
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. -
Babylonian Cuneiform Tablet, a Clothes Receipt from Puzur-Akum to Astaqar
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,640
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'. -
Western Asiatic Ceramic Ibex Rhyton
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
With trumpet-shaped mouth, ibex-shaped finial with curved horns and legs folded beneath the body, spout to the chest; repaired. -
Celtiberian Gold Neck Torc
Sold for (Inc. bp): £14,950
A heavy penannular neck torc with carinated body and tapering coiled terminals. -
'The Dullingham' Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
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. -
'The Driffield' Anglo-Saxon Enamelled Bowl Mount
Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
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. -
'The Ferryhill' Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Three-Dimensional Urnes Stirrup-Type Mount with Head of Odin
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
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. -
Medieval Decorated 'He who loves from the heart, gives with a good heart' Posy Boxwood Comb
Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
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. -
Medieval Bronze Aquamanile of a Male Bust
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,050
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. -
Medieval Limoges Gilt Christ Crowned on the Cross
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,150
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. -
Medieval Chrismatory with Limoges Panels
Sold for (Inc. bp): £22,100
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. -
Medieval Gold Heraldic Signet Ring with Goat
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
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'. -
Medieval Bronze Corpus Christi
Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,650
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.
-
Medieval Gold 'In God Alone We Two Are One' Posy Ring
Circa 1600-1750 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,235
With a wide D-section hoop, inscription to the inner face reading 'In god alone wee two are one' with long e. 6.37 grams, 22.95 mm overall, 20.22 mm internal diameter (approximate size British U 1/2, USA 10 1/4, Europe 23.15, Japan 22)
Ex Lionel collection, formed 1980s. From the Horton collection, UK. -
Medieval Gold Heraldic Signet Ring with Goat
15th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
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'. 23.95 grams, 27.22 mm overall, 21.97 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Z, USA 12 1/2, Europe 28.77, Japan 27)
Ex Notaras Coins & Antiquities, 2014. European private collection. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12120-211871. -
Medieval Gold Signet Ring with 'Indeed' Inscription and Lion
Circa 15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20,800
Comprising a heavy D-section hoop and a thick round bezel, engraved facing lion to the centre with inscription 'yn : dede' above for 'in deed' or indeed'. 23.16 grams, 26.37 mm overall, 20.88 mm internal diameter (approximate size British W 1/2, USA 11 1/4, Europe 25.66, Japan 24)
Ex D.S. Lavendar, London, UK. Property of a North American gallery, acquired in 2012. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12121-214333.
The inscription, a means of expressing agreement, has not yet been matched to a particular family motto. However, the Anglo-Saxon words and the possible later date of the ring suggests that this is a motto descended from one of the Marcher Lords, or Knights Marchers. The latter occupied the border land between Wales and England, and were granted special privileges and status by William the Conqueror, and were virtually independent rulers. -
Medieval Period Silver Cup with Birds
Circa 9th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
Sheet silver cup with applied reeded strip to the rim, repoussé detailing of alternating piriform flowers on a hatched field; fluted band below and basal ring; the rim with a tightly looped flat-section ribbed handle, piercings below the rim and two pairs of birds perched looking inwards. 124 grams, 95 mm
Acquired on the London art market in the late 1980s-1990s. From the family collection of an East London, UK, gentleman. -
Medieval Bronze Corpus Christi
12th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,650
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. 500 grams total, 23 cm high including stand
Former collection of the late (d.1955) Bishop of Tournus. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12040-211844. -
Medieval Bifolium from a Dismembered Psalter
England, circa 1340 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
Vellum 'two-page spread' with stitching holes flanking the central column; left page with dense bastarda script in black ink with green and red versals and ornament; right page with large initial majuscule 'D' and floral panels extending across the upper edge of the text and down the left margin, the bow of the 'D' filled with dense leaf, tendril and floral detailing, text of Psalm 110. 2.65 kg, 60 x 45 cm
with Sotheby's, London, 7 December 1999, no.9. -
Medieval Gilt Bronze Processional Cross
Italy, probably Tuscany, circa 1500 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
With low-relief floral detailing to the obverse, nimbate bust to the finial of each arm, affixed Corpus Christi with knee-length loincloth; reverse with similar ornament, central low-relief image of Crucifixion; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 2.49 kg total, 50 cm high including stand
with Francis Janssens van der Maelen, 11 March 2003, no.997. Private collection, Suffolk, UK. Accompanied by a previous illustrated catalogue page. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12043-212164. -
Spanish Silver-Gilt Cross with Corpus Christi
Late 15th-17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,470
Applied cross bottony silver-gilt plates with frond detailing to the edges, pounced fields, reserved running tendril motif with gilt detailing; high-relief quatrefoil panels with emblems of the four evangelists; Corpus Christi modelled in the round with gilt loincloth, cross roundel to the rear; later wooden mounting with loop to the reverse. 758 grams, 46.5 cm
with Lopez de Aragon, Madrid, 2014. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12044-212171. -
Ethiopian Leather 'Book of Psalms' Codex
17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,420
Wooden end-boards covered with tooled leather, later reinforced with a new plain leather spine and replaced twine stringers; psaltery with decorated title page in Ge'ez script, red and black ink; parchment pages with dry-point guidelines, black text with red detailing; some pages with decorative polychrome busts, architectural features, etc. 3.5 kg, 32.5 x 24.5 cm
Ex Claudia Belcher, London, until 2005. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12045-212183. -
Ethiopian Diptych with Passion and Resurrection of Christ
18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
Comprising two recessed panels, the left hand panel showing biblical scenes divided into two panels: in the upper panel the deposition of Christ in the tomb and the Resurrection of God, holding a flag in his left hand and grasping the hand of Adam with the right; in the lower panel the flagellation of Christ and the road to the Calvary; Ge'ez inscriptions on the field; the right hand panel showing the Crucifixion, Ge'ez inscriptions on the field. 946 grams total, 32.5 x 21.5 - 33 x 21.5 cm
Ex Alistair McAlpine collection, 2004. Ex central London gallery.
The icon shows Western influence on Ethiopian art. The Crucifixion image contains many elements of this iconography which are found in many Oriental and Western art of the Middle Ages, but with significant changes from the previous representations: Jesus is nailed with three nails and not four, the head leaning towards his right shoulder and the hair falling on his shoulders. Following the Western influence, Christ is represented in a spasm of physical pain, and consequently a more detailed anatomy of his chest and abdomen is depicted. This concept of the Crucifixion, common in the Italian Late Middle Age and Renaissance art, found its way to Ethiopia at some time towards the end of the 15th century, or at the beginning of the 16th century. As in the majority of the Resurrection icons of this period, Christ is dressed in a long robe with a cloak or toga draped over one shoulder. -
Ethiopian Diptych Icon of the Crucifixion and Saints
Circa 1680 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Carved rectangular diptych with pierced suspension bar above and braided thread hinges; obverse with ornate reserved cross on a field with concentric chip-carved borders; reverse with off-set quatrefoil in a square frame with concentric bands surrounding; hatched panels and saltires to the lateral edges; left inner panel a painted scene of the Crucifixion with Ge'ez script text surrounding; right panel with three nimbate figures. 98 grams, 8.4 x 10.2 cm
Ex Henry Brownrigg, 1999. -
Cretan Wooden Incredulity of St Thomas Icon
17th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13,000
Painted on board with reinforcing panel to the reverse, gessoed surface with painting depicting the resurrected Christ revealing his wounds to St Thomas, who is reaching towards the fifth stigmata with his raised forefinger, the apostles having gathered around the pair witnessing the inspection of the wounds; Christ standing within a framed doorway with gilt dome above. 1.58 kg, 48.5 cm high
Fine condition, some repainting.
Ex property of a London lady, part of her family's 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 no.11545-196368.
The icon represents a well known iconography from the New Testament, Gospel of Saint John, chapter 20, in which the resurrected Christ stands beside ‘Doubting Thomas’, supposedly the most sceptical of the twelve apostles. In this chapter Christ appears to Thomas’s fellow disciples while Thomas himself is absent and upon his return, Thomas’s friends tell him about Christ’s resurrection, which Thomas does not believe in. After eight days pass, Jesus comes again, and this time Thomas is confronted by his Lord: “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.”