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LOT 1114
Byzantine Bronze Ring with Inscriptions
11TH CENTURY A.D.
7/8 in. (5.79 grams, 23.02 mm overall, 19.43 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)).
Flat-section hoop with incuse foliate designs on each of the shoulders, oval bezel with inscription in two lines: 'ΙΗX ΗΝΑ' = Ἰη[σοῦς] Χ[ριστός] H N[I]KA' = Jesus Christ and the Victory. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000.
From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Đurović, I., Средњовековни накит из збирки Народног музеја Крагујевац (Medieval jewelry from the collections of the National Museum Kragujevac, in Serbian), Крагујевац, 2012, fig.60, for the type.
FootnotesIn this category of rings, the oval hoop gradually widens into a full shoulder and a massive, flattened bezel. The bezel is an ellipsoidal field, decorated with a dedicatory inscription to Christ. The letters are roughly engraved. This ring is likely to have come from a Byzantine-era provincial Balkan workshop.
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AUCTIONS:
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Byzantine Bronze Ring with Warrior Saint
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Comprising a slender hoop with gently expanding shoulders, an oval bezel with a stylised standing figure holding a spear. 3.23 grams, 20.48 mm overall, 18.01 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N 1/2, USA 6 3/4, Europe 14..35, Japan 13)
Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
These kind of rings, possibly signet rings, find their parallels with artefacts from Eastern Europe, especially in the area of Smederevo. Comparison elements allow us to propose a 14th-15th A.D. date. In the Orthodox world, military saints were common representations, although engraved simplistically. -
Byzantine Bronze Cross Pendant
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
With slightly flared arms, transverse piercing above for suspension. 10.6 grams, 33 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
Byzantine Lead Pendant with Simeon Stylites
12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Discoid with integral loop, tondo with figural scene of Simeon Stylites standing on his column, two worshippers at the base and two angels above; legend to the rim. 22 grams, 48 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.
