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LOT 1050
Byzantine Bronze Ring with Warrior Saint
11TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (3.78 grams, 21.23 mm overall, 17.16 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M 1/2, USA 6 1/4, Europe 13.09, Japan 12)).
Slender hoop with discoid bezel showing a stylised warrior holding a long spear. [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.58, for the type.
FootnotesThese banded rings, made of bronze sheet with a flattened ellipsoidal head, could be decorated with geometric or animal ornaments executed by shallow carving. In this circumstance, the bezel is decorated with a stylised image, most probably of Archangel Michael, who was asked for protection and blessing.
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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. -
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Byzantine Gold Marriage Ring with Busts
Circa 6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £10,400
D-section hoop with carination, flat chamfered shoulders each with an engraved cross moline within a wreath; trumpet-shaped bezel with two facing busts and processional cross between, the bodies with inset carnelian studs; legend 'OMONOIA' (harmony) below. 13.76 grams, 25.37 mm overall, 18.77 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)
From the collection of a late English gentleman, 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13047-248619.
The marriage ring is one of the typologies in which figural decorations are frequently found. Generally speaking, marriage rings are engraved with a representation of a husband and wife, sometimes accompanied by Christ, and usually engraved with wishes for 'harmony, health and the grace of God'. Rings of this type had been used since the late 4th century A.D. and remained extremely popular in Byzantium in the 6th and 7th centuries. -
Byzantine Bronze Ring with Warrior Saint
12th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
D-section hoop with angled shoulders, hexagonal bezel with a stylised warrior holding a long spear and a shield. 3.78 grams, 22.01 mm overall, 18.76 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q 1/2, USA 8 1/4, Europe 18.12, Japan 17)
Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
This category of rings had a hexagonal-rounded chaton raised above the link. Conforming to the iconography of the Orthodox countries under the influence of Byzantium, the possible decoration was related to the military saints.
