Bronze Seal Matrix with Emperor Charles IV

Comprising: red hardstone weight with incuse bird image to underside; carved agate weight; serpentine bead in the form of a frog. 59 grams total, 30-33 mm



Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.

With blue, yellow, white and green enamel, representing the Anastasis (Resurrection of Christ); the Saviour represented on two registers, in the upper one (Resurrection) emerging from the grave, surrounded by the hesychastic light, with the Roman soldiers falling asleep, and the apostles and a cherubin beside him; in the lower register (Descent into Hades) Christ surrounded by the same divine light, leading the people from the Limbo, Adam and Eve, King David and Salomon and other souls to heaven; the frame decorated with gilt arabesques on blue enamel, inscriptions in Old Slavonic at the top. 200 grams, 11 cm



Acquired from Chris Martin-Zakheim, Iconastas, 5 Piccadilly Arcade, London SW1. From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.

The iconography is typical of the Anastasis or Resurrection of Christ, with the gates of Hades broken under the feet of the Christ, echoing the phrase: 'Christ is Risen From the Dead, Trampling Down Death by Death, and Upon Those in the Tombs Bestowing Life!'

Composed of cylindrical, tabular and conical beads, with a large elbow bead to the centre. 57 grams, 30 cm



From the family collection of a Hampstead gentleman; formerly acquired in the 1980s.