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LOT 1057
Byzantine Bronze Ring with Warrior Saints
11TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (4.66 grams, 21.55 mm overall, 19.72 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)).
Slender hoop and a large oval bezel bearing two stylised warrior figures holding spears. [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 ellipsoidal bezel is decorated with stylised images, most probably, of military saints, who were asked for protection and blessing.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Byzantine Silver Stamp Seal with Bird
6th-8th century A.D.Estimate: £120 - 170 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £60
Conical body with integral loop above, underside with a standing bird with hooked beak, pelletted field. 11.7 grams, 24 mm
Private collection, UK. -
Byzantine Bronze Ring with Saints
12th-13th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Comprising a D-section hoop and a hexagonal bezel with two stylised figures flanking a cross. 5.33 grams, 25.53 mm overall, 21.73 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O 1/2, USA 7 1/4, Europe 15.61, Japan 15)
Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
The bronze ring is compactly worked from a single bar. The ring link, hemispherical in section, broadens at the top, where the ring bezel was hammered. The decoration inscribed in the hexagon shows in the upper field a military saint, 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. -
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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.
