Loading, please wait...
Details
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.
Provenance
Acquired from London galleries during the 1990s.
From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman.
Literature
Cf. Đurović, I., Medieval Jewelry from the collections of the Kragujevac National Museum, Kragujevac, 2012, fig.12, p.111, for similar ring.
Footnotes
Some 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).
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine 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:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
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)
RELATED LOTS
-
Byzantine Limestone Mortar with Faces and Later Dedication
Circa 14th-15th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £390
Drum-shaped body with narrow base, two vertical flanges running from the rim and between them two D-shaped male masks with low discoid caps; later inscribed: '1812 [ΕΤ]ΟΥ IΟΥ[ΛIΟΥ] 27 ІωÁΝΙΣ ΚΟΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ ΠΕΤΡΙΚΙ' (July the 27, year 1812 of Iohannes Konstantinos Petrikos). 11.15 kg, 22 cm wide
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
Byzantine Garnet Set Gold Pendant
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Domed sheet-gold pendant with filigree hoops and granulation, four cells each with a gemstone cabochon, lateral loops. 2.68 grams, 19 mm
From a late Japanese specialist collector, 1970-2000s. -
Byzantine Lead Icon with St George
Circa 7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,300
Bifacial lead plaque with figurative decoration: obverse with Saint George, nimbate, on his horse killing a fallen foe with his spear; 'ΓΕΟΡΓ' label above the horse's neck, raised border with pellets and pellet clusters; reverse with relief pattern of a double circle decorated with double arcs forming a cross pellet to the centre. 48.8 grams, 64 mm
Private collection Mr S.A., Switzerland, before 1992, thence by descent.
According to the Christian tradition, Saint George would have lived between the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century: born into a noble Christian family, he became an officer in the Roman army and was then named a prefect by Diocletian. But when the same emperor decided to resume the persecutions, Saint George became a victim despite his important political rank. His role in the development of the faith is so important that he is included among the Great Martyrs of the Eastern Church and his fight against the dragon becomes a symbol par excellence of the fight for Good which defeats Evil. In the Christian symbolism of the Middle Ages, the circle, a perfect geometric shape which has neither beginning nor end, designates the universe whose centre is the source and thus evokes Jesus, the man-light.
