LOT 1079

Byzantine Bronze Ring with Warrior Saint

12TH-13TH CENTURY A.D.

3/4 in. (3.24 grams, 21.62 mm overall, 18.18 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)).

Hoop with angled shoulders, hexagonal bezel with a stylised nimbate warrior holding a long spear and a shield. [No Reserve]

Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000.
From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

See Teicu, D., Arta Minoră Medievală din Banat (Minor Medieval Art in Banat), Timisoara, 2009, pls.17,2 and 20,6, for type and iconography.

The bronze ring is compactly worked from a single bar. The hoop, hemispherical in section, broadens at the top, where the hexagonal ring bezel was hammered. The decoration inscribed in the hexagon shows a military saint in the upper field, surrounded by lines running parallel to the hexagon, which form a further decorative element. The bezel of these rings was decorated with stylised images, very often military saints, who were asked for protection and blessing. They are usually represented as one or two human figures, schematically depicted, inscribed in a circle, decorating the bezel.