Byzantine Bronze Cross Pendant

Octagonal in plan with carved scene of the Adoration of the Magi with star above; stepped border, pierced for attachment. 30.2 grams, 68 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Comprising a flat-section hoop with a starburst motif to the base; openwork shoulders and a square bezel with a pellet to each corner, the bezel engraved with foliate motifs. 3.65 grams, 19.99 mm overall, 18.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10)



Acquired from London galleries during the 1990s. From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman. Accompanied by a previous typed cataloguing card.

Some rings from the Balkan territories of the Eastern Empire (for example the ring from Dobrača) bear a square thickened bezel engraved with schematic representations. What sets them apart are the widened shoulders emphasised by a plastic rib and the raised and flattened head, which places them in the group of rings which dates mainly to the 11th century (from the end of the 10th to the first decades of the 12th century).

Discoid in plan with integral stub handle; central Maltese cross within a herringbone ring. 319 grams, 95 mm



From the collection of Sir Daniel Donohue [1919-2014] and the Countess Bernardine [1904-1968], Los Angeles, USA; the collection was assembled in the 1950-1960s, but before March 1968. with Bonhams, London, 13 April 2011, no.310 [Part]. Acquired on the English art market, 2011. Private collection, Europe. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams catalogue pages.