Auction Highlights
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Egyptian Granite Head of a Dignitary
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
Carved with soft facial features and carefully executed cosmetic lines around the eye, earring, and carefully detailed duplex wig with gently wavy curls; likely from the Ramesside Period; mounted on a custom-made stand. -
Etruscan Bronze Statuette of Herakles
Sold for (Inc. bp): £18,200
Modelled in the round with a muscular nude body, his club resting on his shoulder and the hair dressed in rows of tight, close-set curls underneath the Nemean lionskin hood with cloak billowing over his left arm, the paws tied across his chest; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Roman Marble Portrait of a Boy as Worshipper of Isis
Sold for (Inc. bp): £17,550
Carved head of a prepubescent worshipper of Isis, with soft facial features, long nose, small downturned mouth, heavy-lidded eyes, the whole giving the face a sombre or mournful appearance; the hair textured to indicate a short cut and combed forward across the scalp, sidelock above the right ear; mounted on a 16th century carved breccia upper body with leather cuirass and pteruges to right shoulder, cloak draped across the shoulders and fastened at the clavicle on the right side with a disc-brooch; socle base; some restoration. -
Larger Than Life-Size Roman Bronze Sandaled Foot
Sold for (Inc. bp): £39,000
Modelled in the round and originally part of a monumental statue, the naturalistic right foot encased in a trochades leather sandal with median reversed tongue secured with side straps and thick looped laces; the thick platform sole slightly curved, toes and nails well defined; mounted on a substantial custom-made display stand. -
Life-Size Roman Marble Sleeping Girl from a Sarcophagus Lid
Sold for (Inc. bp): £20,800
Modelled in the half-round, nude with eyelids half-closed in sleep; a drapery partly covering the head and wrapping around the lower body under the hips; the hairstyle similar to those of the Antonine Dynasty, the peaceful face supported by the hands and the ear pierced to accept an earring; iron reinforcing rod to the feet and the right arm's armilla a later replacement; upper head restored in Parian marble. -
Byzantine Porphyry Relief with Cross Surrounded by Two Birds
Sold for (Inc. bp): £28,600
An imposing panel divided to four sections by a central cross on a stepped pedestal, the lower and upper arm with branch-like extensions; the upper quadrants with a circlet surrounding a palm tree-shaped motif; each lower quadrant with a bird in profile facing back; mounted on a custom-made display stand. -
Carved Marble Memento Mori Skull
Sold for (Inc. bp): £16,900
Carved skull on a short neck with musculature and blood vessels; mandible in place with some teeth in sockets, wisps of hair adhering to the dome of the skull; one zygomatic bone partly absent; square-section socle base. -
'The Kelton' Gandharan Head of a Bodhisattva
Sold for (Inc. bp): £24,700
Carved in the half-round head of a Bodhisattva (probably Maitreya) with fine detailing to the arched brow, aquiline nose, neat moustache and full lips; the eyes heavily lidded, urna to the forehead, long open lobes to the ears; the hair in multi-stranded curling locks gathered into an ushnisha with brow-band below; heavily cleaned, conserved, and mounted on a custom-made stand; supplied with original old wooden base with collector's label: 'Head of Bodhisattva / Fine grain schist / Gandhara, Northwest Pakistan / 4th century'.
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Visigothic Radiate-Headed Brooch
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
A miniature bow brooch with D-shaped headplate and five radiating lobes, shallow bow, rectangular footplate with transverse ribbing and mask finial, pin-lug and catch to the reverse. 37 grams, 39 mm
Property of a gentleman; acquired in the late 1960s-early 1970s. From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998. -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Mount with Interlace
Circa 6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Disc mount with three-band guilloche, central cell with waffle-pattern gold foil insert. 2.8 grams, 19 mm
Found Essex, UK. From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998.
The central cell was intended to contain a cloison or cabochon garnet, now absent, through which the gold foil would shimmer with reflected light. -
Viking Inspired Bronze Penannular Omega Brooch
12th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
A flat-section Mordvinian type brooch comprising a penannular band and two trapezoidal plates; the tongue round-section with flat scroll around the band; the plates each with raised pellets and four pierced lugs to the outer edges. 12.4 grams, 55 mm
Ex property of an Essex gentleman. Property of a Scottish collector, acquired in 2013.
This type of brooch belongs to the typologies of the omega brooches. It was probably used by Ugro-Finnic people to fasten the shirt at the neck or to attach other lighter garments. These brooches evolved to become very elaborate, with dangling springs from the edges, and were often worn in pairs, destined to female garments. In this late Viking period their coins demonstrated Russian and Eastern Roman influences in their art and jewellery. -
Merovingian Silver Buckle with Garnet Cabochons
Circa 6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Comprising: plate formed as three discs each set with a garnet cabochon, three rings to the edges, retaining strap to rear; tongue with median recess; carinated loop. 20.1 grams, 50 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Cabochon garnets are an unusual feature of buckle plates at this period, when cloisonné work is prevalent. -
Germanic Silver Buckle with Plate
6th-7th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £260
Comprising: graduated loop with twist detailing; conical tongue with similar twist detailing, the narrow end curved over the forward edge of the hoop; D-shaped plate and backplate with band of triangular punchmarks, three domed rivets. 39.1 grams, 54 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Great Square-Headed Brooch Fragment
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
Comprising a headplate with disc to lower corner and Style I mask developing to a shallow bow with thick ridge, footplate with mask and dense interlaced zoomorphic features, lozenge to the centre; pin-lug and catch to the reverse. 71 grams, 84 mm
Found Cambridgeshire, UK. From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998. -
Viking Age Finno-Ugrian Socketted Axe Head
10th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
A Finno-Ugrian or Baltic hand-forged iron axehead with triangular-section narrow blade widening to a broad bevelled edge with square chin and spur to the rear, socket with flanges to the rear. 694 grams, 14.2 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.
During the mid 13th century, the axes were favourited by Baltic people. For instance, the Curonian army included lightly armed soldiers who fought with spears, shields, fighting knives and axes. A heavily armed soldier could also carry a sword, a helmet, a shield and a wide bladed axe. -
Anglo-Saxon Bronze Nummular Brooch
9th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Disc brooch with pin-lug to the reverse and scar where the catch was soldered on, low-relief design of a profile bust inside a ring of ropework and pellets. 3.54 grams, 23 mm
Found near New Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, UK. From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.FAKL-DFD6D3.
The design of the brooch is based on the form of contemporary coins. -
Anglo-Saxon Bronze Small-Long Brooch
Later 5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
With rectangular headplate and deep bow. 8.65 grams, 41 mm
Found Norfolk, UK. From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998. -
Saxon Period Bronze Ring with Coiled Bezel
6th-10th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Comprising a flat-section hoop tapering to narrow wire finials formed into a coil and the ends wound around the shoulders. 1.48 grams, 21.03 mm overall, 17.84 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N 1/2, USA 6 3/4, Europe 14.35, Japan 13)
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. -
Anglo-Saxon Gilt Bronze Brooch Pendant
6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Discoid with raised rim and central roundel, band of gilt knotwork ornament surrounding; later pierced for suspension; pin-lug still on reverse. 8.07 grams, 27 mm
Found Norfolk, UK. From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998.
The item began as a disc brooch with parcel-gilt obverse, and was later converted to a pendant; perhaps the catch became detached and the owner wanted to keep it in use. -
Viking Period Bronze and Silver Artefact Collection
8th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Comprising: silver wire finger ring; silver wire loop with lozenge pendant, impressed cross potent; wire earring with two seed beads. 4.46 grams total, 19-37 mm
Property of the vendor's grandfather, thence by family descent, circa 1985. From the private collection of a New York, USA gentleman.