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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Late Medieval Period Gold Signet Ring with Arabic Inscription
15th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
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. -
Late Medieval Period Gold Signet Ring with Arabic Inscription
15th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
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. -
Medieval Silver-Gilt Claddagh Style Ring
15th-16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
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. -
Spanish Military Banner Made from a Fragment of Nasrid Granada Embroidery
15th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
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. -
Medieval Romanesque Marble Head of a Saint
Late 12th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,080
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.
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. -
Medieval Marble Sarcophagus Fragment with a Man
14th-15th century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £1,235
Depicting the head of a mature bearded male against a draped background with swept folds. 7.4 kg, 34 cm
Private collection, England. -
Medieval Limestone Cloister Capital with Green Man Heads
South West France, late 12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
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.
Green Man masks are commonly found as bosses in the aisles of churches or in the cloisters of monastic complexes. -
Medieval Stained Glass Panel of a Praying Angel
England, 15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
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. -
Renaissance Stained Glass Panel of a Grotesque Head in Profile
Northern France, probably Champagne, circa 1540 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £143
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. -
Stained Glass Panel of a City Landscape
Northern France, probably Champagne, circa 1520-1530 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
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. -
Renaissance Stained Glass Panel of a Head of a Woman
Northern France, circa 1480-1500 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
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. -
Stained Glass Panel of the Month of May
Southern Low Countries, circa 1580-1600 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £546
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.