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LOT 2024
Bronze Arabic Seal Matrix Collection
CIRCA 18TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 - 7/8 in. (24.8 grams total, 21-23 mm).
Three matrices featuring discoid dies and openwork stems; one with an oval die and columnar stem with tapering finial; each engraved with calligraphic Arabic script or initials to the base. [4, No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market.
Property of a Ruislip, UK, gentleman, by inheritance.
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AUCTIONS:
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Post Medieval Glazed Animal Tile Group
17th-18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Group of four green-glazed tiles, each square in plan with raised edges and zoomorphic motif in high relief. 548 grams total, 10.2 x 9.8 - 10.2 x 9.9 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. Ex East Anglian private collection.
Tile production increased in the second half of the 16th century and during the following centuries. The fragments discovered from various localities (pot-tiles, rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal panels, open-work crest tiles) were all produced in regional workshops, from the end of the 15th century or at the beginning of the 16th century. They all had diverse decorative motifs, mainly animals and geometrical or vegetal combinations, almost all of them singular finds for this study area. -
Post Medieval Silver and Bronze Love Token Collection
Circa 18th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Mixed group comprising of mostly silver issue coins, each worn flat and coin bent into a double-curved 's' profile for use as a token of love. 27.65 grams total, 19-25mm.
Found on various UK sites since 1974. Property of an Essex collector.
The custom of giving a bent coin as a love-token is known from the 17th century in England. The coins were usually smoothed to obliterate the monarch’s head and then bent twice; sometimes they were engraved with initials or symbols such as hearts or knots. If the sweetheart accepted the youth's advances, she kept the token; if not, she disposed of the coin. The tradition is referred to in the children's rhyme 'There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, he found a crooked sixpence on a crooked stile.' -
Tudor Bronze Spoon with Rose Maker's Mark
16th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
With flat oval cross-section stem, tapering very slightly from the bowl and ending in a simple ball seal knop; a maker's mark in the form of a Tudor rose within a circular border stamped within the bowl, adjacent to the stem. 48 grams, 17 cm
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.
Spoons with this type of knop date from the 16th century A.D. The knop, when bearing an owner's initial, could be used as a seal. The bronze spoons of the Tudor era were inexpensive and not mentioned in wills, but if silvered or in silver they were often listed among their owner’s property.