With D-section hoop and disc bezel, incised nasta'liq inscription. 8.13 grams, 20.48 mm overall, 17.47 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)

From an old French collection believed to have been formed in the 1960s.
Acquired privately as part of a collection in the early 1990s.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12298-214825.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 540; Content, D.J. (ed.), Islamic Rings & Gems. The Zucker Collection, London, 1967, item 94, for type.

Comprising a narrow hoop with waisted shoulders, incised detailing, knop to the underside; ellipsoid plaque with central raised panel surrounded by pellets and with incised inscription. 6.02 grams, 26.04 mm overall, 19.73 x 18.80 mm internal diameter (approximate size British U, USA 10, Europe 22.52, Japan 21)

From an old French collection believed to have been formed in the 1960s.
Acquired privately as part of a collection in the early 1990s.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, items 533, 536, for type.

Ribbed hoop, applied parcel-gilt bezel with a crowned heart flanked by quatrefoils. 6.19 grams, 23.75 mm overall, 19.24 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)

Found Norfolk, UK.
From an old private collection of Norfolk, UK, gentleman, formed since 1998.
Recorded by the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).

Accompanied by a copy of the report to HM Coroner with Treasure reference no.2017 T948.
Accompanied by a letter from the British Museum informing that the Crown's interest in this find has been disclaimed.

The design lacks the clasped hands which are a usual feature of the claddagh rings.

D-shaped banner comprising an old woven panel with embroidered arabesque sections in red, blue, white and yellow on a newer coarse textile backing; applied strips of red and yellow fabric, red fabric rosettes, heavy fringes to the edges; securing loops to the outer edges. 960 grams, 74 cm wide

Private collection, London.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate no.12300-221678.

The Nasrid Dynasty was an Arab Emirate which ruled the territory of Granada from 1232 to 1492 A.D. At its demise, it was the last Muslim dynasty remaining in the Iberian Peninsula.

Carved naturalistically in the round as a mature male figure with short wavy hair, full beard and moustache, his brow furrowed and mouth held slightly ajar; repaired. 3.8 kg, 18 cm

Acquired in Europe before 1996.

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.11809-206816.

See Sauerländer, W., Gothic Sculpture in France 1140-1270, Ambrams, 1972; Cahn, W. and Seidel, L., Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections, 1: New England Museums, New York, 1979; Williamson, P., Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300, Yale University Press, 1995; Fogg, S., 30 Heads, stone heads from the 12th to the 15th century, London-New York, 2018.

The head was carved as an image of a saint, apostle or a prophet. The accomplished and sophisticated style of carving on this head can be compared to some of the most celebrated Romanesque buildings of Southern France. The carving of the head resembles the representations of heads and faces of 12th century French Romanesque art, for example those of Saint Trophime in Arles. This imposing head once served as an important architectural part of a lavishly decorated church, possibly in western France. Its form and the size suggest that the head was not only decorative but that it would have been structurally important – perhaps part of a row of statues of apostles and prophets like those depicted on the Saint Trophime façade.

Depicting the head of a mature bearded male against a draped background with swept folds. 7.4 kg, 34 cm

Private collection, England.

With square upper face developing to a round base; the spandrel decorated with a frieze comprising two grimacing faces linked by interlacing foliage; the back with two large acanthus leaves flanking a lanceolate floral motif. 16.1 kg, 28.5 cm

SAS Guillaumot-Richard, 25 June 2016, no.202.
Ex central London gallery.

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.12183-221702.

Cf. Fogg, S., 30 heads, Stone heads from the 12th to the 15th century, London, 2018, pp.5ff., for similar images; Lassalle, V., ‘Les chapiteaux, l’organisation du décor et quelques particularités architecturales de l’église Notre-Dame, à Saignon (Vaucluse)’ in Archéologie du Midi médiéval. Tome 20, 2002, pp.37-55, for similar capitals with interlaced foliage, fig.4.

Green Man masks are commonly found as bosses in the aisles of churches or in the cloisters of monastic complexes.

Figural panel with nimbate angel, head bent forward and hands clasped before the chest in prayer; yellow-amber pigment to robes and hair, drawn up in a top-knot; lead cames with loop to the upper edge; old collector's label '12764 001'. 100 grams, 20.3 cm

Kees Berserik, 2008.
Ex central London gallery.

Figural panel with profile head wearing a draped fabric covering knotted at the rear, the eyes cast upwards and mouth agape, with wispy facial hair; scrolled arm from a piece of furniture and other items in the field; lead cames with loop to the upper edge. 124 grams, 16.7 cm

UK trade, 2018.
Ex central London gallery.

Irregular panel depicting a section of fortified town wall with gate, towers and loopholes, church and other buildings; lowering clouds above; framed with lead cames with two suspension loops. 223 grams, 22 cm wide

with De Baecque Vente Aux Enchere, 5 March 2022, no.52.

Irregular D-shaped panel with female head in three-quarter view, her hair worn loose with a diadem or crespine; old collector's label '20668015'; framed with a lead came and suspension loop. 46 grams, 71 mm

De Baecque Vente aux enchere, 8 June 2023, no.511 (part).
Ex central London gallery.

Ellipsoid panel with polychrome landscape scene depicting a fowler in the foreground holding his left arm extended for a perching bird of prey wearing a hood; the fowler in slashed doublet and hose with turned boots standing before an oak tree; in the middle distance, two figures sitting in the grass, the female playing a lute and the male gesticulating, and a third riding with arm raised releasing a hawk; in the distance, wooded hills with a castle; inked title 'Maiŭs' (May); lead came with two suspension loops; cracked and repaired. 266 grams, 23.7 cm

De Baecque Vente aux enchere, 5 March 2022, no.55.
Ex central London gallery.