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LOT 2041
Bactrian Style Silver Dish Fragment with Hellenistic Portraits
20TH CENTURY A.D.
8 7/8 in. (152 grams, 22.5 cm).
Comprising a portion of the silver-coloured metal rim; rim with vine tendrils, leaves and bunches of grapes modelled in high-relief and extending into the bowl; base with a ring of right-facing male profile busts each within a pelletted hoop, and border of larger pellets below; underside abraded. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the London collection of the late Mr S.M., 1969-1999.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 2041
Bactrian Style Silver Dish Fragment with Hellenistic Portraits
Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
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Renaissance Polished Imperial Porphyry Pestle with Rare Xenolith
Italian, 17th century A.D. or laterSold for (Inc. bp): £1,040
Modelled as round-section tubular body, shaft with rounded top; rare xenolith to the handle. 1.23 kg, 19.2 cm
Acquired from a dealer in Kensington Church Street, London, UK, in 2000. From the private collection of a Somerset gentleman. -
Post Medieval Silver Snuff Box Set with Agate Intaglio of Saint Jerome
Italy, 16th-17th century A.D.Estimate: £1,200 - 1,700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £600
Decorated with a repeating motif of acanthus leaves and facing masks of Bacchus; lid of set with an agate intaglio of Saint Jerome kneeling before a crucifix within a rope-twist and dog's tooth border, surrounded by leafy swags on a pounced field; old collector's label 'Walecki Collection 207006' to inner lid. 52.7 grams, 53 mm
Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market. -
Tudor Period Silver Ring with 'Amuletic' Toad Stone
Western Europe, 16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,720
Round-section hoop supporting a discoid bezel, claw setting with inset 'toadstone' amulet. 4.53 grams, 29.85 mm overall, 20.51 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)
Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the French art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13074-248390.
William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, circa. 1599; ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears a precious jewel in his head yet’. Toadstones are mythical stones that were thought to be found inside the head of a toad. They were believed to sweat, change colour or even heat up in the presence of poison. It was thought that a toadstone placed on bites from snakes, insects, spiders and shrews would extract poison from the wound. They were thought to bring good luck and ward off evil, whether in the present life or in the afterlife. The Book of Secrets from the 13th century recommends swallowing the stone to 'cleanse the bowels of filth and excrements'. The stone could then be retrieved and used again. They were often set as amulets and talismans, a practice that continued in Europe until the 18th century. Toadstones are actually the button-like fossilised teeth of Lepidotes, an extinct genus of fish common in the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, 200 to 100 million years ago.
