Comprising a domed and fluted body with knop above, D-section swept hoop with barrel-shaped suspension ring; inset quartz seal with heater shield and scroll with Welsh motto: 'Gwell Angau na Chywilydd' (Death rather than Dishonour). 20.7 grams, 42 mm



Property of a Cheshire, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The motto is used by the Royal Regiment of Wales.

Mixed group of figurines in various styles and poses; after the antique. 635 grams total, 11.4-18.5 cm



Ex London art market 1990s. From a London, UK, collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

A large quantity of buttons of various sizes and motifs to the upper face, most with a loop to the reverse. 531 grams total, 10-29 mm



Found on various UK sites since 1974. Property of an Essex collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Plano-convex in section with flattened face; incised cartouches and ten lines of hieroglyphic inscription to the underside with winged scarab in base; collector's legend 'Tutmose III / 18 Dynasty 1500 BC / 121' to reverse. 759 grams, 15.7 cm



From a private, UK, collection in the 1980s. Property of a London, UK, antiquarian. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Composed of facetted, barrel-shaped and grooved cylindrical beads with long amuletic beads; central feature composed of two large tabular beads with chevron decoration and a large multifactted bead. 35.8 grams, 42.5 cm



Ex London art market. Property of a North London, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Plano-convex in profile with square handle to underside; incuse figure of nimbate St. Basil facing, holding a book with dentilled border and legend 'ΟΑΓΙΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΣ' (Saint Basil); handle with legend 'ΙΣΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ' (Jesus Christ triumphant). 141 grams, 15.7 cm



Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Patchwork band of velvet and other panels in various colours with embroidered quatrefoils, rosettes, and other motifs, loose-weave fabric band to lower edge and tassels. 1.06 kg, 207 cm



From an early 20th century collection, Paris, France. Exhibited at the Silk Road Exhibition, Piccadilly, London W1, held in 2001. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Discoid with an impressed crowned 'H' to one side. 456 grams, 67 mm



Found from spoil from the Thames Foreshore at Billingsgate in the 1980s. Property of an Essex collector. Ex Capital Gains Exhibition at the Museum of London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Of irregular rounded profile with incised zigzag hairline, reserved almond-shaped eyes and vertical bar nose, incised left ear; mounted on a custom-made stand; after the antique. 3.25 kg total, 24.6 cm including stand



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. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Depicting Mary holding a lily flower with her right hand and supporting infant Jesus with her left arm; Jesus crowned by a crossed diadem and holding a gospel in his hand; background in gold thread, framed in a circular silver frame with dedicatory inscription to the reverse from a certain Alexander to the Jerusalem’s Archbishop Dositheus, reciting: + Τω ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΤΑΤω ΚΑΙ CΟΦωΤΑΤω ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗ ΙΕΡΟCΟΛΥΜωΝ ΔΟCΙΘΕω ΤΙΜΗC ΕΝΕΚΕΝ – μηνι cεπτεμβριω 1698 – Αλεξανδρος – To His Beatitude and Enlighted Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheus, as a sign of respect – September 1698 – Alexander; internal padding with floral decoration. 82 grams, 10 cm



Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The art of gold embroidery developed in Constantinople, with its own guild, and continued also after the end of the empire. Important artists like the legendary Despoineta, Mariora, Eusebia and Kokona, were famous in the 'painterly' rendering of religious subjects, not with the brush, but with the needle: red satin, and silver and gold wire created dresses, shadows, volumes with a sense of depth and sculptural quality. The artists conceived their works like a true prayer: a hope, based on human creativity.

Depicting Christ dressed in a long purple tunica talaris embroidered with long central vertical gold clavi (stripes) and appliques on the cuffs and around the neck; the dress fastened at the waist by a rope; crowned with thorns and holding an olive branch in his hand; Greek inscription 'Ο ΕΛΚOΜΕΝΟΣ' (= the One who came [in the Name of God]), on the background, and three letters inside the nimbus representing the continuous divine self-existence of Christ as God ('O ѾN' = The Only One who always exists); tempera on wood. 303 grams, 19 x 15 cm



Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, is here represented before his Crucifixion. The icon is intended to depict the humility of Christ, ready to be raised on the cross, bringing peace to the humanity (olive branch). The purple robe represents the royalty of Christ, who nevertheless, despite being King of the Universe, humbles himself for the salvation of mankind.

Including a salt shaker with median collar and pierced dome, and other items. 360 grams total, 7-11.8 cm



From an early 20th century collection From a Hampshire, UK, private collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.