Details

LOT 1106

Byzantine Bronze Ring with Warrior Saint

11TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.

7/8 in. (5.15 grams, 22.16 mm overall, 19.05 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)).

With an expanding D-section hoop and a raised discoid bezel with a stylised nimbate figure holding a spear and a shield. [No Reserve]

Provenance

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

Literature

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.

Footnotes

These 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 the stylised image, most probably of a military saint, who was asked for protection and blessing.