Details

LOT 0467

Byzantine Gold Fretwork Panel

8TH-12TH CENTURY AD

4" (12 grams, 99mm).

A gold rectangular panel with beaded border enclosing a fretwork design of two peacocks amid fruit and foliage facing a vessel surmounted by a cross; pierced at the border for attachment; old collector's inked number to the reverse 'M376[.]'. Accompanied by an Art Loss Register certificate.

Provenance

From the private collection of Lord McAlpine of West Green, London, UK; acquired in the 1980s.

Literature

Supplied with a positive X-Ray Fluorescence analysis certificate.

Footnotes

In ancient Greece it was believed that the flesh of the peacock did not rot after death and so the idea passed into early Christian symbolism as representing the immortality of Christ.

CONDITION