Agate Bead Necklace

A tribal head modelled from leather with applied hair, moustache, eyebrows and eyelashes; pierced through the lips and ears; set in a later glass dome with base. 810 grams total, 20.5 cm including stand



Acquired Mellors & Kirk, circa 2019. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK, formed since 1985. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The freak show was the archetypal expression of popular culture, enjoyed by everyone regardless of their class. The freak show was presented to the public as entertaining and educational, offering the opportunity to learn about anatomy and the ‘realities’ of people from foreign lands. The real 'shrunken heads' known as tsantsas were severed human heads that were used by tribal cultures as war trophies or for ceremonial purposes. They were also used to scare off an enemy, using the heads as a threat, or also in religious rituals.

A large ring with a D-section hoop. 3.41 grams, 24.45 mm overall, 21.57 mm internal diameter (approximate size British X 1/2, USA 11 3/4, Europe 26.92, Japan 25)



From an English collection formed before 2000. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Squat in profile with integral looped scrolls and palmette ornament to the stub feet,hatched guilloche and wreath detailing to the body with ellipsoid plaques, broad mouth with rolled rim and broad pouring lip, scrolled handle with thumb-pad; stamped to underside '49 1/2', 'James Dixon & Sons / Sheffield', 'FPBM' (in cartouches) / 51675'. 323 grams, 14.5 cm



By repute from Highclere Castle from the 1950s onwards. Acquired from Newbury Antique Emporium. Property of a Berkshire, UK, gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Property of George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866 -1923), who financed the exploratory excavations of Howard Carter which resulted in the discovery and publication of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen in the 1920s. On 19 March 1923 Carnarvon contracted blood poisoning after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with erysipelas. He died a few days later on 5 April, in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo. This unexpected and untimely death gave rise to the story of the 'Curse of the Mummy'. He is buried in a tomb at Beacon Hill, Hampshire and the family lives in Highclere Castle nearby. Highclere is the location chosen for the filming of the BBC drama series 'Downton Abbey'.