Arab-Byzantine Bronze Casket with Crosses and Naskh Inscription

Comprising: a cross bottony with integral loop; a plain flat-section cross with curved loop; a flat-section cross with incised lines to each arm and a central x-motif; a cross with bud finial to each arm with rosette motif. 15.88 grams total, 29-37 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Comprising three discoid weights with recessed upper face, two with incised cross above and 'N B' flanking the central boss, one with 'N B' and pellets above and below. 26.19 grams total, 17-20 mm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

Recalling workmanship similar to that found in the floor of the Sistine Chapel and other important Roman churches; comprising a stepped rectangular panel with white marble border, square blocks with cross fourchée motifs on porphyry and other fields; mounted on a custom-made stand. 1.06 kg, 38.5 cm wide (1.4 kg total including stand)



French gallery, Paris, 1990s. From a family collection, London, UK.

The Cosmatesque style was a characteristic type of ornamentation of Eastern Roman origin (opus alexandrinum) used by the Roman marble makers of the 12th and 13th centuries AD. It embellishes floors, ciboriums and cloisters of churches by means of polychrome marble inlays of varied and imaginative geometric shapes. The wider use of this decoration began in the 12th century, at which time techniques were improved: the Cosmati floors were made with pieces of stone cut in various shapes and sizes, a property quite different from the mosaics in opus tessellatum, in which the motifs were made from small units all having the same size and shape, or from the opus sectile, intended to create representations with pieces of multicoloured marble cut out and arranged for this purpose. The stones used by Cosmati artists were often material salvaged from the ruins of ancient Roman buildings.