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LOT 0965
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.
Accompanied by a previous typed cataloguing card.
Cf. Đurović, I., Medieval Jewelry from the collections of the Kragujevac National Museum, Kragujevac, 2012, fig.12, p.111, for a 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 0965
Byzantine Gold Ring with Foliate Motifs
Estimate £1,000 - 1,400€1,160 - 1,620 (for guidance only)$1,350 - 1,890 (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): £195
Piriform body with vertical ribs and impressed roundels across the whole surface, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 662 grams, 15.5 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 Bronze Inscribed Weight
5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Tabular in form, obverse with eight-rayed starburst in a frame, reverse with incised text. 25.8 grams, 25 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
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Byzantine Marble Table Top with Roundels
6th-7th century A.D.Estimate: £25,000 - 35,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £12,500
Broad stone disc with band of carved roundels to the border, dished central panel; the border comprising seventeen socket roundels with rosette and tendril ornament between, each roundel with reserved figural or emblematic ornament: an equal-arm cross with ivy leaves in the spandrels; to either side of this, a reserved regardant peacock; next to these, in pairs a calf's forequarters on each side; next, a goat, then a bull, then a regardant bird, a ram, a lamb and a peacock, remains of original pigment; reinforced with a steel backing and claws; accompanied by professionally made 'lift-on' wall brackets for display. 87 kg, 102 cm including wall bracket
Acquired in London from a UK collector in the early 2000s. Previously with an Austrian collector in London. Formerly in a North American collection. From a London gentleman, 2000s. 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.12400-226356
The beasts have symbolic importance, such as the peacock for resurrection, the lamb as the
