Bactrian Style Lapis Lazuli Bead Necklace String

With tapering flat-section handle, used as a device for warding off harmful magic; identified by Marie-Louise Kerr, curator of the West Berkshire Museum. 96 grams, 44.5 cm



Found wrapped in cloth along with fur, bones, and feathers, in the eves of a thatched cottage in Berkshire, UK, in 1978. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Executed in oil and tempera and gold leaf; the central panel with the veiled head of Mary with her head inclined towards the infant Jesus supported by her left hand, wearing a red maphorion mantle with elaborate golden borders, over an off-white robe, with gold cuffs; the infant facing to left, dressed in blue tunic and wrapped in a yellow shawl, right hand extended in blessing gesture, Greek inscriptions ΜΡ ΘΥ (Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ = Mother of God) flanking Mary's head, and 'ΙϹ ΧϹ' (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ = Jesus Christ) beside the infant; the side panels with icons of Saints Kosmas and Damianos (upper sections) and Saint George killing the dragon and Saint Barbara (lower sections). 425 grams, 20.5 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.

Even after the fall of Constantinople, icons painted on wood remained the principal object of devotion for Orthodox Christians wherever the commonwealth of the Eastern Roman Empire left its traces. The painted icons are still used by the Orthodox for personal devotion, for display in churches on feast days, and to decorate the iconostasis (partition) of the church. This icon is a portable one, for domestic or travel prayers.

A bifacial Yämäṩor Mäsqäl processional cross finial comprising an openwork flat-section panel surmounted by a cross, with interlaced tendril design engraved with four seated saints on both faces in low-relief; tapering tubular socket with circumferential ribbing, lateral angled crosses. 404 grams, 30.5 cm



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

In contrast with the hand cross that is fitted with a grip, the processional cross has a hollow shaft into which the pole supporting the cross is inserted, although the use of both is interconnected in the liturgy and ceremonial aspects of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In Amharic, it received the name of yämäṩor mäsqäl or "cross to [carry] on a pole", the term mäṩor also meaning a wooden handle. Processional crosses are used on "every qaddase day" occasions - an expression meaning whenever the liturgy is performed. This includes displaying the cross during the reading of the Gospels and other sacred texts, as well as holding it up to be viewed at the end of the service for the final blessing.