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LOT 0175
Byzantine Gold Ring with Foliate Motifs
CIRCA 11TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (3.65 grams, 19.99 mm overall, 18.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10)).
Comprising a flat-section hoop with a starburst motif to the base; openwork shoulders and a square bezel with a pellet to each corner, the bezel engraved with foliate motifs.
ProvenanceAcquired from London galleries during the 1990s.
From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Đurović, I., Medieval Jewelry from the collections of the Kragujevac National Museum, Kragujevac, 2012, fig.12, p.111, for similar ring.
FootnotesSome rings from the Balkan territories of the Eastern Empire (for example the ring from Dobrača) bear a square thickened bezel engraved with schematic representations. What sets them apart are the widened shoulders emphasised by a plastic rib and the raised and flattened head, which places them in the group of rings which dates mainly to the 11th century (from the end of the 10th to the first decades of the 12th century).
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LOT 0175
Byzantine Gold Ring with Foliate Motifs
Estimate £1,200 - 1,700€1,390 - 1,970 (for guidance only)$1,620 - 2,300 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Piriform body with gusset to the equator, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 431 grams, 10.6 cm
From a specialist collection of militaria, London, UK, collected 1990s onwards. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.
Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Byzantine Gold Staff Finial
6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Central conical tube with three hollow radiating bulbs, all with applied filigree and bands of granulation, replicating a flower bulb. 5.09 grams, 31 mm
From the H.N. collection, Milton Keynes, Berkshire, UK, 1990s. -
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Byzantine Fresco Panel of Crowned Women
14th century A.D.Estimate: £30,000 - 40,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £12,500
Fragment of a fresco panel depicting a group of young women wearing crowns, possibly depicting queens or wise virgins, three in the foreground with suggestion of others behind them; a vertical line to the left marking the border of the painting; two outer women's eyes turning towards a point high on the right, and the middle one lowering her eyes; wearing clothes richly decorated with precious stones and pearls, and crowns consisting of a band encrusted with gems and bordered with pearls, topped with points adorned with coloured stones in the style of Western European crowns. 5.08 kg, 40 x 40 cm
Acquired in the early 1980s. Ex old German private collection. From the private collection of Mr S.A., before 1992. Thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.PHO00064. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12115-218166.
This painting possibly comes from a representation of the Last Judgment including the representation of the crowned men and women mentioned in the Apocalypse (chapter IV, verse 4). The crowned women present the signs of adoration specific to this type of representation, their eyes turned or lowered as a sign of respect towards a point where Christ seated on a throne was painted in glory. Perhaps attributable to the Balkans in the 14th century, a region divided among the realms of Hungary, Venice, Greater Serbia and others. Another possibility is that the panel represents the five wise virgins of the parable of Matthew 25, who are crowned brides by Christ.
